Asides
“The Courage of Imperfection” is a term I first heard used at a Group Dynamics Seminar in Germany in about 1983. One of the facilitators was Inge Kähling, a brilliant woman and a student of Kurt Lewin, of Duke University, one of the first to study the dynamics of how people behave in groups. At one point after a heated exchange in the group, she accused me of having Mut zur Lücke, which I translated to mean the courage of omission, seeing as I seemed able and willing to work around most of the less flattering details of my life.
Later, I found out that the concept meant “a lack of self-conceit” and originated with Alfred Adler and had been expounded upon by Rollo May. Flattered now by the connection to Adler and May, I have subtitled this blog The Courage of Imperfection, in honor of Inge Kähling, and so as to remind myself of the pitfalls of conceit, and to not ever forget my obvious lack of perfection.