I'm A Fool

I’m A Fool

John Paul Derryberry

So there I was in front of a crowd of 350 plus people, littered with donors to the organization I lead, staff volunteering to help us pull off a fantastic event, and the clients we serve. It was my real introduction to the community, and while we can change people's first impression of us, it's a lot harder than we realize. It was a big night for me to communicate that the organization is in good hands. And in my moment to show them what I'm all about, I chose to tell a story about peeing my pants in the first grade at the reading table.

Not too many people would pick to announce, "Hello, I'm here," with a story about not being able to control your bladder. But more should consider leading with our imperfections. See, the saying, "my momma didn't raise a fool," doesn't apply to me. I've played the fool many times in my life to great laughs, to beautiful moments, and found myself better, and the people around me improved because of it. In the effort to hide our vulnerabilities from the crowd, we deny many parts of ourselves. We deny our humanity because there isn't a person alive who hasn't had a foolish moment. We restrict our ability to connect to other people because the best type of bonding occurs when we dare to be vulnerable. And probably most important, we cut off access to have fun; something we could all use more of-- to kick back and laugh, even if the joke is on us.

And that was the point of the peeing the pants story last night. While yes, I'm the leader of this agency, but I'm not afraid to be the vulnerable one in the room. It's when our leaders display that type of compassion for those around them that we trust them. I had dyed my hair pink when many kids I worked with went 100 days without a violent act. I have worn my transformer costume numerous places it didn't belong because it was fun. All while knowing, somebody in the crowd muttered to themselves, "what a fool." Only for me to agree that it was and is foolish, but that's the best part of life. No one, I repeat, no one retells the story of the time they played it safe.

To play the fool is to risk; to risk is to gain, either a lesson, an experience, a relationship, a moment. It makes life worth living. Later in the evening, my wife and I danced to the Blues Brothers', "Everybody Needs Somebody". Another foolish act turned into a great moment. So my mom did raise a fool, a character trait I hope sticks with me through the years. I'm not perfect, and by leaning into my mistakes, I might inspire the next fool to leap. That's what life is, knowing failure is coming and being foolish enough to take the chance anyway.