On Scrubbing Bubbles & Being Enough
Sunday, March 9, 2014 at 2:01 PM by Kayce Stevens Hughlett
inspired by Sarah Selecky’s prompt: ‘describe what it feels like to scrub off soap scum.’
It seems to me that Life has a way of leaving a murky layer of scum over our shiny interior selves. It’s not so much Life per se as it is the voices of our inner critics and outer culture. We start to hear these voices from an early age… about the time our cute antics—“Oh look, she can reach her foot to her mouth”—shift toward harsh criticism—“Stop that! Don’t you know your feet are dirty?” (With this statement followed by a swift swat to the hands and feet that only moments before were limberly heading toward our previously cute little mouth.)
The swat and words seem like tiny spots at the time. After all, our parents have our best interests in mind, right? But add to that more daily spots, (Shh. Be quiet. Sit still. Don’t cry. Eat your vegetables even though they make you gag, etc. etc. etc.) and the scum builds up.
It builds and builds and builds until it feels like no amount of magic scrubbing bubbles could ever loosen the fortress that’s encased your shiny interior. But somewhere and somehow deep inside, you still know that there’s a slate of glistening porcelain underneath all that scumminess. The question is: are you willing to put in the time and effort to uncover it or will you call the filmy tub ‘good enough’ and just hope no disgusting chunks break off while you’re bathing?
I used to be a ‘good enough’ girl. Wait! Scratch the ‘enough’ part. I was just a good girl, trying to maintain the status quo as best I could. In my mind, there was no ‘enough’ about me. I wasn’t pretty enough, smart enough, talented enough, or strong enough to face that scum. Mainly, I wasn’t brave enough… and that’s the only ‘enough’ that really matters.
Brave Enough is the one that speaks up for yourself and says, “I am good enough. What I do is enough.”
We each get to decide what our scrubbing regime looks like and whether or not we have the need or oomph to take it on. Do you have the desire to roll up your sleeves, put on the plastic gloves, get dirty, and start removing your scum? Diving in is not for the faint of heart, but who wants to soak in a dirty tub for the rest of their life? I know I don’t.
I’m going for the gleam. The shiny, brilliant, Princess-tub-filled-with-lavender-bubbles gleam. It’s our birthright to be shiny and no amount of scum can take that away. So scrub on, my friend! Get out your shades ‘cuz it’s about to get brilliant, radiant, and super shiny around here. Scrubbing bubbles begin!!
Reader Comments (3)
Awesome! And by the way, you are one of the shiniest, gleamingest people I know! :)
thanks, pam :) xo
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