being a beginner

adulthood has a terrible tendency to flatten us; to train us to stay in the lanes we already know, box ourselves in by our competencies, believe there’s something embarrassing about stepping outside those bounds. the digital age compounds this with polished feeds of mastered recipes or musical pieces or sports wins to a point where we start to believe that being good at something is what makes it worthwhile. and yet that’s entirely wrong. life itself is a constant beginning. there’s a type of private joy about starting again or trying something you have no business being good at. a childlike feeling where curiosity matters more than success, failing only to find yourself smiling in the attempt :)