My first ever application to present at the PMA was rejected
today.
The initial moment
that you receive that information is the most brutal blow. You were not good enough to be accepted to do
something that you wanted.
Ouch.
If, like me, you have fashioned the internal
mental fortitude to selftalk out of the 60 foot tall wave of depression rolling
towards you threatening to ruin your
day, the affirmations come whizzing through your brain: at least you tried, you
knew you weren’t submitting your best, but at least you tried, there are a million
other pieces to this puzzle, maybe they don’t think what you do is important,
maybe they couldn’t get over your weight, maybe your little Melanie Griffith
voice doesn’t instill trust, maybe people on the committee didn’t like the
person who recommended you, maybe they just don’t know who you are, maybe you
need to up your social media game….and it stops the wave of doom but now you’re
a little nauseous from all the tiny little thoughts that are just like those swarms of gnats in the summer…the
ones that get you when you walk into
them accidentally…they flip up your noise and in your mouth…bleck.
I sometimes wonder if I would be better off if I had never
grown the “f” up and just let that big feel roll over me.
And then you stop. (and write about it) and you thank your
lucky stars that you can just go to the PMA this year and enjoy the ride. And
you have one less thing to worry about because you have so much else to do. And
that there is always work to be done as a human who wants to help other humans
and make the world a better place. I look at my friends and colleagues in this
industry and see them presenting things all the time, and I always want to be a
part of that. I really look at that as a
career milestone that I’m ready to take on, but when it comes down to putting
together the application and materials, I’m always rushed. It never feels
thoughtful, and honestly, I’m not that surprised that it was not selected. I
really sent my application off on a wing and a prayer.
But I wanted to do it so badly…
My inner enemy tries to call me out on time management, and
she’s pretty right, but ultimately, what lifts me up from the selfpity pool is
knowing that my time management issues exist because I’m in the trenches with
20+ amazing instructors who are fighting the good fight every day, and even
though I would love to share what I have learned with the world, it IS truly the
work happening here that is going to change it, regardless of whether I present
at the PMA in 2018.
There’s always next year, anyway.