Perfectionism Is Boring

“Perfection is overrated, boring. It's the imperfections--the vulnerabilities, the weaknesses, the human elements--that make us who we are, that make us real, beautiful . . . necessary.” ~ Guy Harrison

Perfectionism is boring.

There's no fun, joy or aliveness in perfectionism. Just a fruitless, endless search for the right way to be in a world where nobody has the answers.

Perfectionism cons us into believing that there is a right answer. It whispers in our ears that there is a way to do things where we never have to confront our fears and our shortcomings. It lures us into managing and controlling. If only we think about it more and work harder, we'll find the right answer.

Perfectionism is the lie that there is a right way to be.

And so we study and read and learn. We commit ourselves to growing into our best selves, as if there is a better version of ourselves out there just waiting for us to be big enough to fill those shoes.

Acorns aren't out there, to the best of my knowledge, worrying about how to be the best oak tree they can be

No oak tree is the same. Nature is adaptive and responsive. Trees grow over rocks, on the sides of cliffs, reaching out their branches at whatever angle they need, seeking out the sun and the energy that fills them with aliveness. And so there are very few straight lines in nature.

The trees I love the most are the interesting ones - the bent, gnarled ones, the ones that look like they have stories to tell.

Stop worrying about how to be the best version of yourself. You will naturally grow; you won't be able to help yourself. I'm not even going to ask you to be interesting. Instead, could you be more interested? More interested in following the aliveness in the world, the aliveness in you.

Perfectionism is boring and it can't coexist with curiosity.