What if we stopped trying to be perfect and started accepting we're beautiful?

Table of Contents

• What If We Stopped Trying to Be Perfect?

• What We're Learning Together

• Why We're Really Here: The Dancing Together Vision

• Your Invitation to Dance With Others

  • This Week's Collective Challenge:

  • The Conversation We Need:

  • How We Dance Together:

• ✨ Where Our Community Gathers ✨

• How We're Growing Together

• The Real Talk: Why This Matters Right Now

What If We Stopped Trying to Be Perfect?

Hey Beautiful Humans,

What if we stopped trying to be perfect and started accepting we’re beautiful?

I've been thinking about this ever since my sweaty bus mishap last week turned into the best headshot I've ever taken. There I was - wrong bus stop, 90-degree heat, dragging a suitcase across a soccer field, showing up flushed and disheveled to a professional event. Everything that could go "wrong" did.

And somehow, that chaotic mess led to pure gold.

And the most profound example: my intuition that we needed to visit Jeremy's brother immediately, despite it being "inconvenient timing." That imperfect, last-minute decision gave us irreplaceable final moments together before he passed just 24 hours later.

Then there was the canoe adventure the day his brother died, where Jeremy and I - along with both dogs - ended up in the water, swimming boat, dogs, and gear to shore. What should have been a "perfect" way to chill and reflect became one of our most treasured memories of tears, laughter and teamwork.

It got me thinking: what if our worst moments are actually our most beautiful ones? What if the mess is where the magic happens?

What if our cracks are exactly where the light gets in?

What We're Learning Together

A while ago, I sat with Dee Grey, and together we uncovered something that changes everything about how we see ourselves and each other:

This isn't just Dee's observation about ancient Japanese art - this is wisdom we all need to remember. Every single one of us has places where we've been put back together after feeling broken.

And here's what this means for all of us trying to navigate this beautiful, messy human experience: Our breaks don't make us less valuable. They make us completely unique.

The question this raises: What would happen if we all stopped hiding our golden cracks? How would our families change? Our workplaces? Our communities?

Why We're Really Here: The Dancing Together Vision

I believe we're here to prove that we all belong. We all deserve life.

We're here to show that:

• Bumping into each other is inevitable and human

• Apologizing and adjusting is beautiful, not shameful

• Dancing together beats dancing alone

• Our different rhythms create better music

What if instead of trying to never make mistakes, we got really good at making beautiful repairs? What if instead of hiding our struggles, we let them become our gold? What if instead of dancing in separate corners, we learned to move together?

This is what I see when I look at this community: People brave enough to keep dancing on the same floor as others who look different from them. People who believe that when we repair each other with gold, we all become more beautiful.

Your Invitation to Dance With Others

This Week's Collective Challenge:

Practice "beautiful imperfection" in one relationship. Let someone see where you've been broken and put back together. Share a struggle that taught you something valuable.

The Conversation We Need:

Ask someone: "What's something difficult you went through that ultimately made you stronger?" Then really listen to their golden cracks.

How We Dance Together:

When you bump into someone this week (literally or figuratively), try Dee's approach: "I'm sorry. How can I do this better next time?" Watch how it changes the interaction.

✨ Where Our Community Gathers ✨

🎧 When You're Ready for Real Conversations About Being Human: Our YouTube community is where brave people share stories about their beautiful imperfections, their golden repairs, and their courage to keep dancing together. Join thousands of people who believe our breaks make us more beautiful, not less valuable.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE COMMUNITY 

📚 For Anyone Who Knows Life Isn't Linear: [“Licensed to Sell” offers 29 different story paths because real healing happens when we explore possibilities together, including the broken and beautiful ones. Readers use it to imagine new ways their own golden cracks might lead somewhere amazing.

✍️ For Storytellers Ready to Write Their Beautiful, Imperfect Truth: At Forward Fest on August 22nd, we're gathering writers who believe their broken places are exactly where their best stories live. Come write the future with your whole, beautifully imperfect self.

How We're Growing Together

What Our Community is Creating:

• Workplaces where mistakes become learning opportunities, not shame spirals

• Families where struggles are met with gold, not judgment

• Communities where dancing together matters more than perfect choreography

• A world where being beautifully human becomes the norm

Spread This Vision: Know someone who's tired of trying to be perfect? Share this newsletter - because the more people who join this dance of beautiful imperfection, the more beautiful we all become.

New to Our Community? Start here with conversations that celebrate beautiful imperfection and join our growing movement for free:

The Real Talk: Why This Matters Right Now

I'm writing this on Thursday instead of Wednesday because yesterday I had to choose between newsletter deadlines and a picnic concert with Jeremy. Guess what won? The music, the company, and the reminder that consistency matters less than showing up for what actually matters.

This newsletter is about celebrating our beautiful imperfections - so here's mine: sometimes newsletters come late because life comes first.

I'm also writing this during one of the hardest weeks of our lives, helping plan a celebration of life for someone we loved deeply. And you know what? Trying to make any of this "perfect" would miss the point entirely.

The most beautiful moments aren't the polished ones - they're the ones where we let our love show through our cracks. Where we hold each other's broken places with tenderness. Where we admit we don't have all the answers but we're willing to keep dancing anyway.

Here's what I know: We can keep pretending we're not all beautifully broken. Or we can start celebrating our golden repairs.

We can choose to believe that:

• Your struggles have created something beautiful and unique in you

• My mistakes teach us all something valuable about being human

• Their different way of moving adds something essential to our dance

• Together, we're creating something none of us could build alone - a world where imperfection is not just accepted, but treasured

The world needs what we're building here. Not someday - right now, in all our beautiful brokenness.

What golden path are you ready to share with us?

Dancing beautifully imperfect with you,
Laura ✨

P.S. Hit reply and tell me - what's one way you've been "repaired with gold" that made you stronger or more beautiful? These stories are how we learn to see our own breaks differently. ✨💛✨

Sending you lots of love,

Laura