The Shirt I Wore Anyway

“Sometimes courage is simply refusing to postpone yourself until you look better.”

I once showed up to a corporate session wearing a shirt that had clearly lost an argument with my suitcase and, somewhere earlier in the day, survived lunch with my infant daughter.

I noticed it when I caught my reflection in the glass elevator doors.

The collar wouldn’t sit flat.
One sleeve looked slightly defeated.
There were milk stains all over it.

There was no time to fix it.

For a moment, I considered leading the entire session with my hand over my shoulder.

Instead, I walked in as I was.

The room was fluorescent and overly air-conditioned. Twenty-five employees in business-casual armor. Laptops half-open.

I felt slightly out of place. Slightly under-ironed. Slightly like someone who had recently fed an infant in the dark.

And something strange happened.

Because I wasn’t polished, I wasn’t performing.

I was present.

I noticed who was hesitant.
I slowed down when the energy dipped.
I didn’t rush to impress.

The session landed.

Not because I looked ready.
But because I stopped trying to.

Showing up imperfectly has a way of lowering the temperature in the room.
It gives everyone else permission to exhale.

Sometimes courage is simply refusing to postpone yourself until you look better.

Wrinkles and all.

— Slash