In this blog post we talk about perfectionism and the often negative impact it has on our creativity.
Many say that “Money is the route of all evil,” but actually, I disagree, I think perfectionism is the route of all evil. According to my lovely friend - Wikipedia, Perfectionism is often defined as a “personality style characterized by a person's concern with striving for flawlessness and perfection.” (Perfectionism (psychology)., n.d.) It is often seen as a positive trait rather than a character flaw and is often rewarded and praised by parents, teachers and coaches. It has, at times, been helpful. “My precise attention to detail” is a great selling point for an interview and it’s what allowed this blog to look as cute as it does (If I do say so myself). But like anything, it has its drawbacks and for me, that’s my ability to create.
I’ll use my blog as an example. It took SO long to get this blog together. Weeks spent setting up a homepage, selecting photos for the cute gallery at the bottom, writing only two blog posts. You might say that’s a good thing. Spending so much time on it means that I take pride in my work, which is true - but it has nothing to do with my pride, perfectionism is what took me so long to get this blog published.
I have this weird thing where anything I do publicly has to be perfect. My blog posts have to be grammar free and structured flawlessly, the colours I choose for the homepage have to match, the pictures have to be right, nothing can be “out of place.”
It even spills over into my social media presence. My Instagram has to be aesthetically pleasing, the captions have to be witty, shit I’ve actually deleted photos 5 minutes after posting them because I stared at it too long and found something “off” about it.
Perfectionism takes so much time away from actually creating things, and often becomes so stressful for me that I frequently abandon projects altogether. Then I’m stuck not creating anything, but then I get frustrated because I’m not creating anything and the dreaded cycle continues!
I think a lot of us feel this way, which sucks! I can’t imagine all the songs that were never released, the scripts that weren’t written, the poetry that wasn’t shared because we got so caught up in making it “perfect.”
We know that perfectionism sucks and is a waste of our precious time, but what can we do to unlearn it? Here are a few things that I’ve been actively practising in my own life recently to abandon the idea of perfectionism.
1. Re-evaluating my “Why?”
Asking myself why I do what I do has been essential when attempting to kick perfectionism to the curb. When you do something for yourself and for yourself ONLY, it doesn’t matter if it’s perfect or not. When we do things for outward validation, that’s where things get tricky. Loving something should be at the core of what you do. You post singing videos on YouTube because you love to sing. You’re painting because you love to paint. You’re taking ballet class because you love to dance. If YOU love it, that’s all that matters. Plus the more you do something, the better you will get. Aim for progress, not perfection bestie!
2. Unblocking my Throat Chakra
This sounds really out there but hear me out okay! In Hinduism, the throat chakra is said to control your ability to communicate, your self-expression and your ability to speak your personal truth. I feel like my self-expression and my creativity go hand-in-hand. Sometimes when I’m feeling stuck (creativity-wise), I like to play “Throat Chakra unblocking music” while I’m working on creative projects. It sounds weird, but it helps me just get everything out of my head and onto paper. It’s not for everyone, but give it a try, you never know! I will have links to some of the music I like to listen to at the end of this blog post.
3. Accepting that perfection doesn’t exist
This is probably the hardest one for me, accepting that universal perfection doesn’t exist. As much as I fight myself on it, nothing can ever, ever, EVER be perfect. There are those who think the Mona Lisa is ugly and the Egyptian pyramids are unimpressive, and there are those who consider these things to be some of the greatest wonders of the world!
My point is, someone will find something to say about everything. Not everyone will like what you do or how you do it, but that shouldn’t stop you from doing what you love, which is working on your creative projects.
Striving for perfection all the time does nothing but steal joy and spoil beauty. It just kills the whole vibe. So I’ll try to remember that going forward and I encourage you to do the same.
If we spend so much time making ourselves, our art, anything, perfect, the world will never get the chance to see it. I like to remind myself that Vincent Van Gogh probably didn’t think Starry Night was “perfect” when he finished it either. But he released it anyway. Maybe we need to be more like Vincent, minus the incredible talent..
Less perfection, more art, more beauty.
Love,
-M
P.S:
Music to help you unblock your throat chakra:
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