Sell your poop!
According to Webster’s dictionary vulnerable is defined as:
- capable of being physically or emotionally wounded
- open to attack or damage
A woman I admire said to me five years ago,
“Mackenzie, continue to work on making yourself more vulnerable. Don’t be afraid of failure. It will free you up.”
She was spot on. There is so much power in vulnerability, and if I had to give one piece of advice to anyone it would be just that — let down the walls, be your authentic self and don’t be afraid of making an idiot out of yourself.
So how exactly do you allow yourself to be vulnerable? First off, it’s realizing that you’re not perfect and that you’ll probably fuck up more times than you get it right, and that’s OK. Actually, I take that back. There’s no such thing as getting it right. Right and wrong is a load of bullshit. All we have are choices and we take responsibility for the choices we make. The whole right and wrong thing is what scares people away from being vulnerable. This black and white dichotomy of right and wrong is what creates the illusion of perfect. If you’re not perfect then you are somehow bad, not good enough, average, mediocre, boring and not important. There’s no room for growth in a world full of perfect.
The word perfect should be taken out of the English language because all it does is breed a culture of insecurity. Getting rid of perfect will open the floodgates to a more loving and accepting society. People would be willing to break out of their comfort zones and share their voices more if they knew they were not going to be compared to an unrealistic standard.
What we ought to be doing is teaching people to sell their poop, no matter what! This is what I learned in improv class. In the beginning of my improv days I was the last person to go up because I was terrified of making an idiot out of myself. Instead of accepting that I was a beginner and in class to learn, I succumbed to the toxic world of perfect. Since I wasn’t the best, I became embarrassed about my skill level. I’d fret in my seat, trying to shake off the nerves and boost my confidence. When it was finally my turn to go up it would look like all hell broke out on my face — I’d turn bright ass cherry fucking red! I’d want to run away back home and cry myself to sleep. But thank God for my teacher. He didn’t let me feel sorry for myself, and instead he’d yell at me,
“Mackenzie sell your fucking poop!”
And I did. I’d stay up on that stage, in front of all my peers and shine it on like I didn’t look like the red lobster that I did.
I am forever thankful for this lesson because it has taught me so much about the power of being vulnerable and the freedom that comes with it. I will always have a blushing problem, but today instead of hating myself for it I have learned to embrace it as a part of Mackenzie. Imperfect and all. In fact, I’m dating a guy now who thinks my blushing is one of my finest assets. Who would of thought?
So here’s my message to you — forget the word perfect even exists. Cross it out everywhere you see it and start replacing it with vulnerable. It makes life so much more freeing.
I am currently a student in BDW’s 50 week program. Learn more about the BDW program. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter.
