One of the most profound phrases I heard last year was about finding something to be bad at.

I sat in a theater for a graduation ceremony, comfortably watching the graduates from the overflow room. Commencement speeches can have the most portable wisdom. Next time you are at a graduation, be there for it! You might want to tune out because of the coming-of-age cliches or the graduates practicing public speaking skills, but here’s your invitation to hunt for these nuggets of wisdom. I challenge you to look for them.

I don’t remember who he was, or why he was speaking, but I wrote down word-for-word what he said. 

“Leave some space to be rubbish at a few things. You can have more than one life.” 

Friends, this is an invitation to play. 

Consider a child. They play because it’s fun. They play for play’s sake. They aren’t concerned with mastering something or monetizing a skill. They just simply play.  

They dance and sing, draw and sculpt. They dig their hands in the dirt without feeling the pressure of becoming a world-class gardener. They play because they are curious. They explore because it brings them joy. Kids are expert Sabbath-practicers. We ought to learn from them. 

I have a feeling somewhere along the way of growing up, many of us found our lane and stopped exploring. We learned what we weren’t good at and we pushed those things to the side. Whether that was for fear of failing, the pressure to succeed, or the pride of winning, somewhere along the way we believed we couldn’t be ‘rubbish at’ something. 

But here’s your invitation. 

You don’t need to be good at something for it to bring you joy. Like the speaker said to graduates that day, leave some space to be rubbish at something. 

Give yourself permission to play. Permission to not take yourself so seriously. Permission to explore and be curious. Find some things that bring you joy and fill the holes in your life with them. 

Be a terrible dancer, because that means you are dancing! 

Be an amateur baker. 

A so-so singer. 

An immature painter. 

An inexperienced athlete. 

A beginner gardener. 

A novice photographer. 

A rookie bird watcher. 

You don’t need to be good at something for it to bring you joy. In fact, it might be better if you aren’t! I love this quote from G.K. Chesterton:

“A man must love a thing very much, if he not only practices it without hope of fame or money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well.”

Find something to put down the need to accomplish, champion, and do. And instead pick up curiosity, humility, and joy. 

Find something to be ‘bad’ at. Not as an excuse to give up, but as an excuse to play. Find time to play for play’s sake, all while delighting that God delights over you. Be an amateur, a beginner, a rookie.

I dare you to be ‘bad’ at something.