Today’s video is short and sweet. But I hope it ignites contemplation and dialogue that lasts far longer.

You see, today’s clip is all about rough edges, our rough edges. The many ugly flaws—internal and external—that we hide and try to clean up before we connect with each other.

Although I’m all for self-improvement, for delivering our best selves, for too long I believed this meant I had to have it all together before I connected, before I was worthy of contributing.

• I had to be a top-notch writer before I started blogging.
• I couldn’t do any public speaking until I perfected my delivery.
• I needed to have this mother and marriage thing figured out before I talked about family life.
• I couldn’t allow myself any questions or doubts before daring to talk about my faith.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with excellence. But when our pursuit of excellence holds us hostage and keeps us hiding, we miss out on precious opportunities to connect with each other. Right in the middle of our undone lives.

I’ve said again and again: perfection does nothing to create opportunity for connection. Our flaws and vulnerabilities, however, hold extraordinary power to bring in-progress people together for uncommon purposes.

[callout]This is a short selection of an in-depth conversation Michele shared with a circle of close friends March 7, 2015. For background on the series, you can read about it here. If you’d like to watch the interview in its entirety (it’s just over 55 minutes), please click here for instant access.[/callout]