“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better best.”
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better best.” As a first grader in catholic school, this is what the nuns said, nay sang to us. Imagine hearing this message over and over as a small child. Would you raise your hand if you weren’t sure you had the answer? Would you volunteer to do the math problem on the chalk board if you knew how to begin but couldn’t see how the equation would unfold? I didn’t. Instead, I learned then that I had to be perfect. It has taken a lifetime to learn otherwise.
When I was trying to be perfect, I couldn’t take risks. I wouldn’t try a new skill lest I perform poorly (as is inevitable). Trying to be perfect kept me afraid. Most recently, I have been afraid of imperfectly supporting a friend who is dying. But I am showing up to spend time with her, I am bringing food (mostly beer and chocolate, her favorites), I am listening. And somehow it seems to hearten her.
Needless to say, I have never been perfect. I have been and am an imperfect mother, friend, sister, colleague, daughter. Yet, I am enough. And I am happier having let go of all the endless striving. This summer, I gave paddleboarding a try. I fell in the bay quite a few times. It was a beautiful day, the water was lovely, and I had a fabulous time.
Eileen Quinn
I am a lifelong Maine educator, co-founding The Community School in 1973 when I was 21, and then co-founding the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences in 2011. Helping students find self-respect and self-confidence in a society that often seems to be invested in taking those elements away from them – is my life’s work.
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Wander around and see which stories speak to you. Each story contributes to our collective experiences, creating a bridge of shared understanding.
Reflect on a meaningful poem, saying, quote, or song. It could be a loved or resented mother’s saying, or a quote that inspires you, or a heart-touching poem or song.
The pandemic was particularly hard on the mental health of adolescents. Their activities, plans, hopes and dreams were canceled or changed, and disappointment hit hard. Now many teenagers are depressed, angry, frustrated, confused and are falling deep into holes of anxiety, fear and futility.
It’s the summer solstice. And right now, where many of us live, it’s hot.
I was thinking about finding some otherworldly music to mark the solstice. Something that would help lower our temperatures. But while looking for that kind of music, I stumbled on another kind.
These lines from Joni Mitchel’s song, “Borderline,” jumped out at me when I heard them on the car radio today. She released the song in 1994 – 30 years ago.
Judy Sorum Brown’s poem, “Wooden Boats,” which on the surface is about the craft of boatmaking, turns beautifully in the third stanza to ask, “Is there within us each …?” By the final lines, it has us wondering if it might even be possible to transform the world
