Please Make Mistakes!

Dear Friends,

What’s that saying? Perfection is the enemy of getting shit done? Something like that. The hope for perfection really does interfere with progress. Far too many of us hold back from doing things we want to do because we don’t feel we have the skills to do it 'perfectly'. And yet, perfection is a myth, while good enough is golden. Screw perfection! My request of you is to please make mistakes.

The current US government is all kinds of shitty, but I have found a nugget of good in their mind-boggling, all-encompassing ineptness, and that is the permission to make mistakes. Hell! That gaggle of idiots and nincompoops and Nazis running the show not only make endless mistakes, but they feel absolutely no shame about their constant errors, and attempt to justify them (while blaming Biden) at every turn. If a group so grossly unqualified as the orange menace and his minions can take control of the US government, then I believe we can all fuck up every now and then and not be too concerned about our imperfections.

I recently posted on Facebook a correspondence between myself and Senator Chuck Grassley from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Except I wrote Idaho. From this side of the border, it feels easy to mix up my ‘I’ states, but fortunately, a whole lot of Americans who read that post set me straight. Normally I would have been super embarrassed by this Idaho/Iowa gaff, but thanks to the Fuck-Up-in-Chief and his clown cabinet, I felt I could cut myself some grace. I mean, mixing up Idaho and Iowa seems so insignificant compared to say, including a journalist and some family members in your Signal chat where you’re laying out detailed plans about bombing a nation halfway across the world, or losing, not one, but TWO $67 million fighter jets.

Getting your message across however you can

I really enjoy writing and have had decades of opportunity and experience to hone my skills, but there are a million other things I’m infinitely less qualified at. I write letters to politicians (a) because I find it therapeutic and fun, and (b) because I believe we have an obligation to pressure them to do the right thing and call them out when they don’t. While my (I'd like to think) cleverly worded emails may (I’m always hopeful!) catch the attention of some office hand, I don’t think that it really matters how I voice the fact that I’M REALLY PISSED OFF as long as I’m making my thoughts known loud and clear. There are many ways to express our anger, our frustrations, and our expectations to politicians and none of them have to be particularly eloquent. The main thing is that we are letting those who hold power know that we are watching them and holding them accountable. And, if you’re worried that your letters might not be fully coherent (because you’re SO pissed off you can’t think straight), please remind yourself that the leader of the US of A has yet to be able to spew out a single sentence that makes any sense whatsoever. Babble away! It seems to be a winning strategy among Republicans.

In case you are now feeling inspired to start emailing senators, here's a link to the handy-dandy spreadsheet I use to access all their contact info. I am forever grateful to my techy friend Susan who put this together for me.

Accepting my imperfections

I really enjoy writing and have had decades of opportunity and experience to hone my skills, but there are a million other things I’m infinitely less qualified at. These days I’m okay with not being great at things as long as I’m giving it a try. These days I find it easier to laugh at my own shortcomings, my failures, my mistakes. Sometimes, I even delight in them. I think the joy comes from finally letting go of my attachment to the desire for perfection after 6 decades of clinging to it. Sometimes, I make mistakes intentionally, just to remind myself that it’s okay. And it is okay.

There are mistakes, and there are MISTAKES.

 I know that I am waxing lyrical about making mistakes, but I’m talking about mistakes that you and I might make. A spelling error. Missed punctuation. Garbled sentences. Forgotten capitals. Mistaking states that start with ‘I’. These are all fine mistakes to make. There is no way that I am condoning the dangerous and potentially irreparable mistakes the ‘leaders of the free world’ and their horrid henchmen are making every day. In a recent response to my emails demanding action to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia home from El Salvador, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) blithely remarked that “the administration has acknowledged that its decision to deport Abrego Garcia to El Salvador was an oversight.” This isn’t a mere oversight. This is a fucking outrage. And while the keystone cops play silly buggers ignoring Supreme Court orders to facilitate Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to his traumatized family, young Kilmar has been lingering in some hell hole prison camp in a foreign country. Weeks later, Kilmar is finally coming home, though the authorities are using this opportunity to try to pin other nonsense criminal allegations on him. The original keystone cops have nothing on the current US government when it comes to ridiculous shenanigans.

One of the best things about mistakes is the opportunity to learn from them. The entire Trump government is one big fucking mistake, and it seems like a lot of people everywhere are learning from this. Canada (barely) learned the lesson of what happens when you elect a fascist idiot to run a country. Our very own squeaky little Maple MAGA leader was poised to become our next Prime Minister, guaranteed a landslide. But enough Canadian voters watched what was happening to the South and thought, “Fuck that!” and voted for the party whose leader is super smart and pretty mensch-y instead. Faaaarrrr too many Canadians still fell for the right-wing rhetoric being spewed by the squeaky candidate, but enough Canadians learned from the mistake our American neighbours made. Apparently, we had record turn-out at the polls and, thank gawd, the Liberals won. We learned from their mistakes. Phew!

And we’re seeing millions of Americans learning from the mistakes of last November. And those who are understanding the lesson of allowing the orange menace and his henchmen to destroy the country, and destroy lives are speaking out. They’re joining protests. They’re making phone calls. They're organizing town halls and marches. They’re supporting their communities. They’re writing letters. This is not a time for perfection. This is a time for action, and hoo boy! are we ever being active! I hope, with an abundance of messiness and imperfections, Americans will turn out in the millions next week to celebrate NO KINGS DAY.

Be active. Be noisy. Make mistakes. Screw perfection.

Jessica

p.s. This was written a few days ago, before the gestapo stormed LA. If you are out there standing up to the ICE thugs, please be careful and take care of yourself and others. Stay peaceful. Stay strong. Be creative. And, thank you for showing up for all the friends and neighbours and family who are under threat from these violent men. We are going to win this fight together. Sending you love and solidarity from this side of the border.