Perfectionism

A fellow counselor and I were discussing perfectionism just the other day. To be exact, we were talking about our perfectionism. Or, shall I say, how we're tormented by our desire to get everything just the way we want it to be, no more, no less.

There is a certain paradox about two self-proclaimed perfectionists lamenting how they lives are imperfect because of their obsession with perfection. Think of it, if you have to put all your mental energy into bringing a piece of work to perfection, agonize over the little details so much you miss the joy of creating this work in the first place, and the only way you can be satisfied is if the work meets all your expectations of what you want it to look like, how much energy is left for the other aspects of life?

But then, isn't perfectionism what makes us competent individuals? Isn't this what some of our parents and teachers taught us to become, to "keep trying until you succeed," to "keep practicing so you get better each time"? Isn't perfection what the media insidiously and relentlessly goad us to pursue, with commercials that bombard us with images of flawless faces or cellphones with ever-faster 3G connection?

A professor once said, "Perfectionism is like the the most westerly point. You can head west, and even feel compelled to do so, but you'll never get there. Wherever you are, there's always a point further west."

Ok, I get it. And I've thought of a perfect solution for my perfectionism. For today, I'm going to deliberately make a perfect mistake. I'll obsess for the next hour what it's going to be, how and when I'm going to execute it. It'll be so perfect it'll bring a smile to my face every time I think about it. And maybe I'll blog about it tomorrow. Perfect.