Is creative perfectionism holding your thoughts captive too?
I know I am the perfect cocktail of every quality you don’t want as an artist.
Perfectionist to the tea, chronic over thinker, and a dedicated procrastinator.
Perhaps this insight from Big Magic author Elizabeth Gilbert, may give you the ephiany it did me:
Finished is a whole lot better than unfinished.
Here are the top 3 truths I learned when it comes to creative perfectionism.
1. Commit to the mumble jumble
A good plan violently plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week
General George Patton
Set aside a small chunk of time each day you think you can commit too ( whatever is optimal for you).
Write, create, put anything down!
It doesn’t matter if you think it’s horrible, rushed.
No matter how you’re feeling, show up for your creativity every day.
That way you’re telling the universe, “ Listen, I don’t care if it gets rough. I’m committed to this thing. I’ll be with you through thick and thin.”
And just 10 minutes of work each day (no matter how bad) is a project to work with by the end of the week.
2. Let it be imperfect
Say you spend your whole life working on a project.
Perfecting it to a tea and getting the best eyes to dissect it .
You’re 95, you finally release it and guess what? mixed reviews!
Cause the truth is: no matter how much you think what you’ve created is perfect doesn’t mean everyone will.
Your project will change someone’s life and someone else will be completely indifferent to it.
Who cares? Keep creating and doing you.
3. People never finish things
Just think about all the ideas wanting to begging to come life in this universe.
I mean, you would never reach the top of this mountain of lost ideas.
To be able to say that you wrote a book, filmed a movie, created something that’s alive and out there, is a more than a lot of people can say.