{"id":15675,"date":"2019-09-10T03:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-10T09:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=15675"},"modified":"2019-09-06T18:43:38","modified_gmt":"2019-09-07T00:43:38","slug":"you-will-never-be-ready-do-it-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2019\/09\/you-will-never-be-ready-do-it-anyway.html","title":{"rendered":"You Will Never Be Ready \u2013 Do It Anyway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Some of you tell me you fear you will never be ready for deep spiritual work. Ecstatic devotion, journeying between the worlds, effective magic, spiritual leadership \u2013 it\u2019s all too big for you.<\/p>\n

Embedded in those comments is another fear that is never spoken and rarely even recognized: you fear you\u2019re not good enough to do it. You aren\u2019t smart enough, spiritual enough, or dedicated enough.<\/p>\n

I have a hard truth for you: you will never be ready.<\/p>\n

I have a harder truth: you will never be good enough.<\/p>\n

Do it anyway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of you are offended by this \u2013 you\u2019re already composing your rebuttal. \u201cEverybody\u2019s good enough!\u201d \u201cMagic is for everyone!\u201d \u201cStop gatekeeping!\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps you actually believe that. But the rest of us don\u2019t. We can\u2019t \u2013 we know it\u2019s not true. And so we smile, and we thank you for your kind intent, and we go on knowing that we\u2019re not ready.<\/p>\n

If you think I\u2019m being malicious or manipulative, you don\u2019t understand what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n

If you think this doesn\u2019t affect me every bit as much as everyone I\u2019m writing for, you don\u2019t know me very well.<\/p>\n

Keep reading.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
image via WikiMedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of us have seen the graph above \u2013 it seems to be going around lately. It comes from the research of psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger<\/a>, who showed that in general, people who know a little think they know a lot more than they really do, whereas people who know more are far less confident in their knowledge and abilities.<\/p>\n

There are some questions as to the limitations of the Dunning-Kruger effect, its precise meaning, and its proper applications. We can leave that debate to professional psychologists and researchers. Seriously \u2013 if you start to write a comment that begins \u201cwell, what Dunning-Kruger really says is\u2026\u201d just don\u2019t. This post isn\u2019t about Dunning-Kruger.<\/p>\n

This post is about how we recognize ourselves in this limited-but-still-useful graph. More importantly, it\u2019s about how we recognize Pagan \u201cleaders\u201d who are still on that early peak of low knowledge \/ high confidence and how we don\u2019t want to be like them. Some of us were there at one time and we\u2019re still embarrassed by the na\u00efve ignorance we had\u2026 and we hope nobody got hurt because they followed us when we didn\u2019t know what we were talking about.<\/p>\n

We weren\u2019t ready then. How can we know if we\u2019re ready now?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some Pagan traditions have degrees, grades, and other mileposts to gauge the progress from beginner to intermediate to advanced. These can give us some confidence that yes, we do know a thing or two. But as in the mundane world (especially in school and in the corporate world) we all know people who\u2019ve managed to check the boxes and get the promotions without learning much of anything.<\/p>\n

And for those of us who are moving off the map<\/a>, there\u2019s nothing to let us know where we are.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we\u2019re hearing the call of this God or that ancestor or these spirits. Or perhaps we just feel a deep desire, a deep need begin the kind of spiritual and magical work that few people can do and fewer still will do.<\/p>\n

But we don\u2019t feel like we\u2019re ready to do it. We don\u2019t know if we\u2019re capable of getting ready. We\u2019re afraid of failing, but more than that we\u2019re afraid of looking like arrogant fools while we fail. And so we hesitate.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about you<\/h1>\n

At some point, though, you start to realize that this desire \u2013 this call \u2013 isn\u2019t about you. It\u2019s not about whether you\u2019re ready or whether you\u2019re good enough. Those things aren\u2019t important.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s important is the work in front of you: the devotions, the journeys, the spells. What\u2019s important are the rituals that need to be led, the events that need to be produced, the groups that need to be organized.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s important are the Gods and ancestors and spirits telling you to do this \u2013 and to do it now, not when you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n

Your doubts and concerns are real. The need to do the work is more real. Your desire to do the work is the most real of all.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what will get you up off the couch of self-doubt and moving forward.<\/p>\n

When I was working on the review of the Sola Busca Tarot<\/a>, I came across a post by Camelia Elias titled This Witch Can Fly<\/a> that\u2019s very relevant to this topic. Here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n

What enables us to produce such magical effects has in fact to do with the very resistance to labels. When you resist labelling, what happens is that you live in a world of no distinction, for what does it actually mean to say that you\u2019re a witch, or a professor, or both? \u2026 You embody the appropriate role and that\u2019s that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not as anti-labelling as Camelia, but I strongly agree with her point that when we stop worrying about boxes (either the ones we check off or the ones we put ourselves in) and just do the work, great things can happen.<\/p>\n

Important things.<\/p>\n

Magical things.<\/p>\n

Holy things.<\/p>\n

For those who are stepping into the work<\/h1>\n

This post was inspired by numerous participants in Paganism In Depth \u2013 The On-line Class<\/a>. Their individual comments are private, but most said something along the lines of \u201cI don\u2019t feel ready to do this, but I feel like I need to do it, so I\u2019m doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of you will go farther than you think is possible. A few of you won\u2019t, but you will still go farther and accomplish more than if you had never started. In either case, you will learn something that will be helpful the next time you\u2019re called to do something.<\/p>\n

Some observers who mean well will say \u201csee, you really were good enough all along.\u201d Speaking for myself, I can see that now, looking back. I couldn\u2019t see it looking forward, and those who insisted that I was better than I thought only increased my anxiety about the whole thing.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t believe I could do it until I did it.<\/p>\n

There are things in front of me now that I don\u2019t think I can do. But the work is there, it needs to be done, and deep down I want to do it. So I\u2019m doing it.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see how it goes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you really and truly can\u2019t<\/h1>\n

Sometimes wanting and trying isn\u2019t enough. Sometimes you simply can\u2019t. Almost all of us can throw a ball. Some of us can throw it really well. Only a few of us can do it well enough that people will pay to see us do it. No amount of wanting and trying was going to turn me into a professional baseball player \u2013 I didn\u2019t have the natural athletic ability. Sometimes there are things we simply aren\u2019t able to do.<\/p>\n

You may have complications that you can\u2019t overcome. Maybe your family situation doesn\u2019t leave enough time to devote the necessary hours to practice and service. Maybe your health restricts what you can do.<\/p>\n

The fact that some people can seemingly do it all doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2026 and you never know how closely their circumstances match yours. In any case, this post is intended to encourage those who think they can\u2019t but really can, not to shame those who really can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

This is not an all or nothing game. Doing the some things you can is better than doing nothing because you can\u2019t do it all.<\/p>\n

For those who have no doubts<\/h1>\n

I worry most about those who have no doubts. It\u2019s possible they know exactly what needs to done and how they\u2019re going to do it. It\u2019s more likely they\u2019re on that initial peak of the Dunning-Kruger graph and they don\u2019t know it. Part of Dunning-Kruger says that if you\u2019re ignorant, you don\u2019t even know enough to recognize that you are ignorant.<\/p>\n

If you have no doubts, by all means forge ahead. Do it right and you\u2019ll soon find yourself sliding down that curve. Once you\u2019re there you can start working your way up the peak of real knowledge and expertise.<\/p>\n

But until then, remember that a little humility goes a long way.<\/p>\n

Blessings on your journey<\/h1>\n

I could tell you that you\u2019re good enough but you wouldn\u2019t believe me. I could tell you if a God calls you that means They think you can do it, but even the most devout among us have our doubts.<\/p>\n

So instead I will simply tell you that the work needs to be done and there is no one else to do it.<\/p>\n

I will remind you that some success is better than no success, and in any case failure is a great teacher.<\/p>\n

I will urge, plead, and beg you to listen to that voice deep within. No, not that one. The one that says \u201cI want to do this.\u201d \u201cI want to be a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll never be ready.<\/p>\n

But you can start now.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I could tell you you\u2019re good enough but you wouldn\u2019t believe me. Instead I will tell you that the work needs to be done and there is no one else to do it. And I will urge you to listen to that voice deep within that says \u201cI want to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":15687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2715,2718,42,4,5,8],"class_list":["post-15675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practice","tag-camelia-elias","tag-dunning-kruger","tag-magic-2","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Will Never Be Ready \u2013 Do It Anyway<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I could tell you you\u2019re good enough but you wouldn\u2019t believe me. Instead I will tell you that the work needs to be done and there is no one else to do it. 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