On Perfectionism

“Perfection is, first and foremost, an unattainable mirage.  It will always hover out of reach.  Perfectionism is a blocking device.  It is refusal to move ahead.  It is a debilitating loop that causes us to lose sight of the larger picture as we become obsessed with the details.  Instead of creating freely, experimenting, and allowing misguided choices to reveal themselves later, we drive ourselves crazy trying to get every detail right before we put our pen to the paper or the horn to our lips.  We ‘correct’ ourselves to the point where our creative act becomes bland and joyless, where our original spark of inspiration is in danger of being smothered. 

“Artists who create freely and correct later are productive.  They are happy.  And they are the people who have a body of work to show for their efforts.  When we erase until the paper tears, or see our children doing this, we must halt the obsession.  Perfectionism is not a quest for the best - it is the pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us we will never be good enough.  Perfectionism is egotism parading as virtue.  Do not be fooled.  We are good enough.”

Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way