Perfection

Sunset at DeGray

 

Oil on canvas applied with palette knife

24 x 30

$700

Do you ever struggle with perfectionism? I struggled with it a lot when I was younger. I am letting go of some of that as I mature. But it's definitely a trap I can get caught in if I don't watch out.

I was reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron recently and she had some pretty interesting things to say about perfectionism:

"Perfectionism is a refusal to let yourself move ahead. It is a loop - an obsessive, debilitating closed system that causes you to get stuck in the details....and to lose sight of the whole."

"Instead of enjoying the process, the perfectionist is constantly grading the results."

"To the perfectionist, there is always room for improvement. The perfectionist calls this humility. In reality, it is egotism." And she even goes on to say it's pride that makes us want to do things perfectly.

"Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough -- that we should try again."

These words hit me square between the eyes. I think so many times I am afraid to try something or afraid to finish something for fear it won't turn out perfectly. And I'm probably missing many great experiences in the process.

Do you ever struggle with perfectionism? If so, I hope these words can be of some help to you too.