It’s PRIDE month. Can we be respectfully curious about that?

I learned from my parents at a young age that pride was wrong. As I grew up, I learned from scholarly men that it was “a deadly sin”.

I became very afraid of being “prideful.” Was I sinning when I accomplished a task well? Was it wrong when I felt happy after someone gave me a compliment?

As a mom, is it OK to be proud of my kids? Was my mom proud of me? I think so, but I wonder if she struggled with the same things.

The word “pride” has been a complicated issue for me for sure. I said just today to my husband that I think we have pride that  gets in the way of a smoother marriage at times.

My oldest daughter is lesbian. She came out to us 4 years ago. I am so proud of her. She is an amazing young woman, who is a person of intense integrity.

I heard a man on a podcast the other day say something to the effect that having kids with integrity creates deep joy for him as a parent. When I heard this I related wholeheartedly.

I felt proud that all of my kids are people of integrity.

My daughter has been so patient with us as we grow more comfortable being proud of her. We have a lot of confusion around that word “pride”, after all.

I’m glad she is free to celebrate pride month. I’m glad we can be proud to be American. I’m glad I can be proud of my roots. I hope my roots are proud of me.

Is pride is one of those things that isn’t bad by itself? But when paired with judging others, whether it’s me judging, my family member, my coworker, my neighbor….Perhaps that’s when it gets ugly? I’m curious.

I used to tell my kids, “Don’t compare yourselves to others. You’ll either be sad that you don’t feel as good at something as others, or you’ll be proud and judge others.” Maybe this is the negative version of pride in both examples?

Are we human beings, worthy of respect? Are we capable of amazing things? When we embrace who we are designed to be?

Happy Pride, Y’all! “Be yourself! Everyone else is already taken.” –Oscar Wilde

Respectfully curious,

Joy