The difference between doing something and thinking about doing something is, all too often, our desire to shine – to do something near perfectly.

Celebrating NationalTalk Like a Pirate Day is a good example.  We told readers of the holiday yesterday and encouraged you to host a Pirate Bingo party this weekend.  Those of you with a penchant for perfection will want to write me off, insisting "Maybe next year."

Aware many of you would dismiss me due to busy work and home lives, I promised four days, featuring four imperfect-but-perfectly-acceptable things that you could do leading up to your event.

Today's is invitations.

I started at 8:28 p.m.  Supplies are simple.  Brown paper bag, white and red paper, markers, glue, and a scissor.

Cut a panel of brown paper from bag and tear around edges.

Crumple paper into a ball, making the map look distressed.

Print details of invitation on white paper, with torn edges.  Include a red “X” marks the spot.

Finished at 8:39, after only eleven minutes.  I rolled the invitations into scrolls and tied ribbons around them with my extra four minutes.

Sure.  The invitations could have been better.  The maps could have been more detailed.  They could have been stained with hot tea and burned around the edges.   I could have written in calligraphy and incorporated chocolate coins into my packaging.  Yes, yes, yes, they could have been better.

But, no.  The point is not to make invitations that shine.  The point is to shine by making community when others simply won’t bother.

It isn’t too late.  Click here to see details from yesterday’s post.  Host Pirate Bingo for your family; friends or neighbors; a group of colleagues; or if a Res-Lifer, a group of residents.

Help get the party started by visiting the Community Forum labeled, Today’s Post.  Share other, even simpler, ideas for inviting friends to a Pirate Bingo party.

Shining off until tomorrow…