I have been thinking recently about what a counsellor said to me years ago, that a big issue for me was Dealing with perfectionism. At the time I took this to mean the perfectionist in myself and this was something I could confront and solve.
But now I'm thinking Perfectionism is an idea, a quality that is all around us, in everything we do, like a shining light. And if you are lucky you will experience it for a moment, a glimpse.
Because it is also a trap. Most people are mediocre and the world is mediocre. We are flawed people in a flawed system. And if you can foreground that mediocrity, that give in the system, most of us will be a lot happier.
This is hard to do in writing, by its very nature because there are so many examples of what we thought of as perfect writing. But I guarantee that if you ask these writers we admire they would say they could have done better and would instantly want to change what they had written.
So I reckon we all just need to keep plugging away. Don't overwork it, but don't underplay. Keep going and you will find something you're happy with
Hi Sharon
Interesting essay
I have been thinking recently about what a counsellor said to me years ago, that a big issue for me was Dealing with perfectionism. At the time I took this to mean the perfectionist in myself and this was something I could confront and solve.
But now I'm thinking Perfectionism is an idea, a quality that is all around us, in everything we do, like a shining light. And if you are lucky you will experience it for a moment, a glimpse.
Because it is also a trap. Most people are mediocre and the world is mediocre. We are flawed people in a flawed system. And if you can foreground that mediocrity, that give in the system, most of us will be a lot happier.
This is hard to do in writing, by its very nature because there are so many examples of what we thought of as perfect writing. But I guarantee that if you ask these writers we admire they would say they could have done better and would instantly want to change what they had written.
So I reckon we all just need to keep plugging away. Don't overwork it, but don't underplay. Keep going and you will find something you're happy with
Just a few thoughts
Daniel