“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.” – Anne Lamott @annelamott

Hi! Nothing like a near death experience and a public health emergency to trigger an existential crisis. I feel it in me and I see it in most if not all of the people I’m working with right now.

Do you feel like you’ve come face to face with your perfectionism monster more lately? I have. Is there a perfect way to navigate this time? I tried and decided there’s not. And the more carefully I try to tread, the more anxious I become.

Perfectionism is the destroyer of joy, whimsy, creativity, and peace (and creative businesses), and yet it tricks us in to thinking it’s the safest path. And of course when things feel unsafe around us, it makes sense that we want to clamp down harder.

What’s this mean for creativity? I think it means letting go and being wrong and walking humbly. I haven’t really figured it out at all but that’s my hunch. What do you think?