Permission
A permission slip is a concept some of us remember from school. You needed to ask for a permission slip from the teacher to be outside of the classroom during school hours or it is something parents sign so children can go on a field trip; things you were not supposed to do without permission. Therefore, we may think of permission as something others give to us or something we must request from others. It is also a frequently used prompt to making the implicit explicit and popularized by Brene Brown. What if you gave yourself permission to do X Y or Z? How would that feel? What might happen? What if you gave yourself permission to create?
To create is to put ideas, concepts, words, materials, even people, together in a new way. What I and my partners have done is exactly that. We’ve taken known and even well used traditional concepts, models or frameworks and put them together in new ways and then we gave ourselves permission to share them with the world (i.e. everyone we can). Traditionally in our discipline, newly created models or possible ways of doing things would be “tested”. Some type of research would be performed to determine the effectiveness or the utility of the new creation, lowering the risk of initial criticism, but lengthening the runway to dissemination. However, our creations are based in evidence (research that has already been done and our own experiences and observations) and the risk of harm to others is low, so why not allow others to judge for themselves, to decide if they want to try or use our creations and see what happens? If we are willing to take the risk, listen to the feedback and learn, then our creation only benefits. Creations, especially those of the mind, are not set in stone. Therefore, as we learn more about how they are perceived and used we can adapt and change them.
There may be barriers to disseminating your creation, true. There are gatekeepers (e.g. publishers, reviewers) in certain spaces that you may have to work with or around. There will be critiques and naysayers but be open to what they have to say. Take what might be helpful and use it. Let the rest go and keep showing up and creating. You don’t need anyone’s permission to create except your own. Creativity in any form is good for the soul.
Breathe in – I am a creator.
Breathe out – I give myself permission to release my creations.
P.S. If you are interested in our creations.
