PERFECT IS A TRAP

PERFECT IS A TRAP My senior year of high school, I was voted "Class Perfectionist." I thought because "perfect" was in the phrase that it was a compliment...Haha, I was wrong. The word "Perfect" is a trap. I always wanted to do things perfect. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to "be a natural." But the truth is, when I chased the things I could be "perfect" at, it meant I only did the things that came easy to me, and I avoided the things that were difficult. If it didn't come easy, or if I wasn't great at it from the beginning, I convinced myself "it just isn't for me" or "that's not who I am supposed to be." But that was not sound logic, that was fear controlling me. The truth is, PERFECT does not exist. It is an illusion, it is a trap. It is an idea that prevents us from starting something new, from going after something that we aren't great at in the beginning. Perfect prevents us from sharing our art with people, our music with strangers, our goals with the world. We want to "wait until the moment is right" or "make sure it's perfect before we share it" or "travel once everything falls into place"...but those are all statements that when you really look closely, they are coming from fear. I now understand that I will have to work hard to develop the skills that I don't already have. And that is okay. It is okay to not be good at something. It's okay to not have it all figured it, or know all the answers, or to "be a natural." I've heard it said that, "You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be GREAT." (- Les Brown) I love that. I love you. All of you. Let's all go out there and get started on the things we suck at. It is okay to fail. It's okay to not be good at first. It's okay to not be perfect.

PERFECT IS A TRAP. (10.10.17 - Phillip Andrew)