Showing up imperfectly

humility as a principle of joy // June's spiritual seed

Mormonism without giving up on God, and exploring spiritual growth. Thank you for being here!!! To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Paid subscribers receive monthly Spiritual Seeds (like this one), and my more sensitive/personal posts.

For the rest of the year, my monthly spiritual seeds are based on the principles of joy found in The Book of Joy.

Happy June!

I guess it was June last week, too, but this past weekend felt like the epitome of a ~June~ weekend for me — farmer’s markets, meals outside, limeade, yoga, sundresses, fresh fruit… I just love June.

drinking mint limeade while wearing a sundress and strolling around at a farmers market = JUNE!

As I waltzed around the farmer’s markets this weekend, I loved looking at people’s works of art on display. I saw wind chimes, upcycled clothing, pottery, and canvas oil paintings of flowers. A vendor had a booth selling “cat slug” magnets — little cat blob creations out of clay. Later, we talked with a man who makes $100 bowls out of beautiful wood. “Smell this!” he said, lifting a bowl to my nose, “Can you smell the pine?” From the cat slug girl to the wood craftsman, I found myself feeling so proud of the people who believe in themselves enough to create booths and sell their work.

You must have a true, vibrant audacity to put your work up for sale. Audacity is a word I keep coming back to this year. Julia Cameron says that it is audacity, not talent, that moves an artist to center stage. In other words, you don’t need to be perfect at something to be recognized for it. You just need to have the willingness to show up, fail, and show up again.

What these art vendors might realize, consciously or subconsciously, is that their very act of showing up, of existing in this small farmer’s market ecosystem, really matters. Farmer’s Markets bring so much to a community. They cultivate a sense of togetherness — there’s live music, people on the lawn laughing and chatting, and women have a perfect opportunity to wear that sundress they’ve been holding on to. Markets like these promote creativity, organic eating, and keeps the money within the community. So even if their art is overlooked more often than they’d want it to be, they are a part of something bigger than themselves.

Humility and Perfectionism

The second principle of joy (and this month’s spiritual seed) is humility—rooted in the sense that we are part of something greater than ourselves. As I’ve been preparing to write about humility, I keep coming back to perfectionism. When I am so focused on being perfect, it can be hard to step back and see the whole picture. Where perfectionism is based in control and fear, humility allows us to surrender, grow, fail, and learn without fear of being unworthy.