mission statement impossible

A mission statement... it sounds like something Father Junipero Serra signed before he was allowed to start mixing stucco for his string of missions. “I, Father Junipero Serra, will not harm or damage this property, and if the land owner deems there is sufficient damage done, my security deposit of 20 burros will not be returned to me.”

I don’t really know what a mission statement is. Every time I’m required to write one (for instance for this blog) I want to run out and hire a grownup to interpret what I’m trying to say.

Here is one off the top of my head: 

“I don’t know what my mission statement is. For godsake, if I knew what I wanted I would be a well-adjusted millionaire.”

Here is a mission statement a grownup would write (if I was one):

“My mission is to champion others with my unique perspective. To grow personally and professionally and enrich and enhance other’s perspectives using my humor and compassion to make the world a smaller place.”

Do you know what this means? I don't. But I did use a lot of grownup words.

Here is what I would write if I just came from therapy:

“I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what you want. But I think we’re more alike than we think we are. The more I know about you and the more you know about me… it makes us closer. And I will feel less alone in the world. And when we honk at each other in traffic I will be more tolerant and kind because I wrote a blog today and didn't explode for lack of a creative outlet and you are more understanding and calm because you read a funny blog.”

And here is what I would write if I was talking to myself:

“Just f**king write! Feel proud of yourself for a change! Stop writing to fill up microsoft word files on your computer that no one else sees! Get your work out there! Be heard! Stop being a baby!”

My inner voice is a bad ass.

A writing teacher once said, “Just write and you’ll find what you want to say.”

So I try to write everyday. And now I've found a forum. Though my mission statement is a little wonky I am standing on my cyber soapbox. It is a big step. Perhaps this blog will lead me to that one topic that is inevitable or obvious to everyone but me. So I’m throwing it all out there. I expect this blog to evolve from “a blog about a girl starting a blog” to “a blog about something I learned while writing a blog about a girl starting a blog.”

In college I used to see a lot of foreign films. Then I would read the review and think “So THAT’S what they were trying to say.” So as I write about future topics or try other formats or even rant just to vent… perhaps you will read them and think “So THAT’S what she’s trying to say.” And then I will read your comments and think, “So THAT'S what I’m trying to say.” And if we come up with an ironclad mission statement together, there might be 20 burros in it for you. 

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