It is not the most elegant phrase in the English language yet, “I suck” or any variation thereof tends to be used quite a bit, especially by me. Sometimes it comes out loud and sometimes it’s only spoken in my head. Other times it goes out via text message to my benevolent group of friends who have infinite patience when it comes to my temporary insanity. Those moments of frustration and doubt come along and I’ve learned different ways in which to address them so that I can move on and embrace my awesomeness instead.

Then I ran across a posting from the website Writer Unboxed. The post was called “Dare to Suck.” And immediately I was intrigued. The post was for writers overcoming obstacles to getting their work done. It reminded me of Anne Lamott’s “shitty first drafts” as described in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. (One of my all time favorite books.) The first notion is to get rid of this idea of perfection. Whatever task, project, dream you’re working on doesn’t have to brilliant. Especially on the first try. The important thing is to show up.

But there’s another aspect of this concept of daring to suck. How often do we avoid doing something because we think we won’t be good at it? Who defines what “good” is? Anyone can do the things he or she is great at. It takes some courage to step outside your comfort zone, forget about results, and fly (if for a moment) by the seat of your pants. With the lightness of spring and the fullness of summer approaching, it’s the perfect time to think about what you might dare to suck at this season.