Ever want a complete 100% do-over?
As in…
- I totally botched that (fill in the blank) project.
- That was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done. What was I thinking? Hmmmm. I guess I wasn’t.
- I wish I were never born.
After nightmare experiences like these, we’ll sometimes make a slimy, nasty vow. Not the wedding kind, but they’re just as full of commitment, and they can stick to us like leeches. Leeches I say!
Enter Rosanne Barr. She’s well known for her crass 1990 version “sung” at a San Diego Padres game. Barr humbled herself this past summer, took a few singing lessons, and debuted a respectable version of the Star Spangled Banner for a small group of spectators at a girl’s softball game. Read the Huffington Post article here.
Her do-over version is quite touching. Wait, gulp, is that a tear starting to well in the corner of my eye as I watch this? There, I said it. I ‘might’ have cried a little when I saw the video. I was happy for her. Happy that she made things right. Happy that she learned from her mistakes. Happy that she knew it needed to be done and she did it. Barr admits she wanted the do-over to show her grandson that even if you make a huge faux pas, you can make it right.
As a creative, you’ve been there right? I know I have. Projects gone wrong. Job opportunities missed. Disappointing people. Man, it’s depressing even writing just a few things that needed a do-over. If we’re all honest with ourselves, there’s a lot of things we wish we could do over.
But then there’s that leech-like vow that tells us:
- You botched it once–don’t do it again loser.
- Remember how embarrassed you were? You’ll feel the same way if you do it again. Don’t do it!
- Just go sit in your cubicle like a nice kid, don’t make waves, just get through the day.
And a day turns into a month, then a year, then a decade, and before we know it, that nasty vow keeps us from our do-over. It took Rosanne Barr about 20 years.
Why not begin your do-over now–before this week turns into a month, then a year, then a ‘never?’
Time to make a new vow. . . and smash that other one to bits while singing “oh say can you see…”
