If you look up “perfect” in the dictionary, you will come across words like accurate, flawless, ideal, thorough, and finished.  I hate, hate, hate this word more than any other word that exists on this planet.  Yes, even more than “moist” if you could imagine that. My tolerance for this makes me cringe every time I hear someone use it.

I’m not talking about when it is used in relation to the weather, or a really great handbag – I am talking about when we use in regards to setting expectations of ourselves and others. I hate it, because I believe the concept of perfection holds us back…

It keeps us from dating someone that has the potential to be really great for us, that actually exists, because we are too busy making up stories of what our perfect match is like in our head, setting expectations that nobody could possibly live up to. “Hmm, why am I still single?” It stops us from booking that long-overdue beach vacation, because we want to lose fifty pounds first so we can look perfect in that bikini that’s been sitting in our closet for ten years now. “Hmm, maybe next year.” It gives us an excuse to procrastinate from doing something that we really, really want to do, because we feel like the way we need to do it is perfect.

See the fucking cycle?

I myself  am guilty for feeling the shame of not meeting my own expectations of being perfect almost every single day. A Graphic Designer by day, I am already wired to seek perfection when it comes to doing just about anything creative, so it is a really huge challenge for me to let something go in one direction when I intended it to go in another. So when it comes to writing this blog, it is a pretty similar experience. Sure, it was a lovely idea to use the tile of a song as the name of my blog post every single time, but this detail was holding me back from posting any of the several drafts I wrote this week. Can’t have a blog if you don’t write, right? I finally realized what I was doing, and what was really pinning me down from  moving forward – it was myself, and the idea of how I thought things should be.

Today I imagined my head detaching from my neck, spinning higher and higher up into the sky like a helium ballon if I didn’t get my thoughts out of it a-sap. I decided I didn’t want that to happen, and it would really suck never to make out with someone again which I need a head on my body to do. So instead, I am letting out some crazy and allowing my keyboard to take me wherever it wants to go (with minor edits, of course).

So, the lesson for today is to roll with the punches, let go of super high expectations, and accept that I am not perfect – I am fucking human – and am not meant to be.

How has perfection held you back in your own life? Has it influenced your decision-making or lack thereof? Has it put a strain on a current relationship, or from seeking one that may actually be good for you?

Chew on that while you listen to a pretty great song!
Damn. That felt GOOD! Mic drop.

Song of the Blog:
Something About You  |  Level 42  |  1985