116 | We don't have to be perfect.
Hello beautiful humans,
Perfection is a boring lie.
Let me explain. :P
Imagine if you read a story about a person who lived a perfect life, a life in which they made every “right” decision, they never had any struggles, and everything always worked out.
First of all, life is not like that. Second, there are rarely truly “right” decisions. And third, that story would be SO BORING to read, let alone live.
And yet, we often have this expectation of perfection subtly running in the background.
I turned 40 this week. Woohoo! I don't usually get caught up on age stuff, but 40 is a big one that invites you to reflect.
I'll be honest, when I first started thinking about it a month ago, I had a bit of an existential crisis. I gave so much attention to the things I haven't been doing, or how I haven't been the person I want to be at times, or how I've gotten away from some of the things that bring me alive.
In other words, I was reflecting through the lens of perfection.
These things come up for everyone at all ages, whether you're 16 or 60. None of us are exempt from perfectionism's allure, because it's subtly being spoken to us all the time, sometimes from external messaging and sometimes from things we've internalized.
Sometimes I can get in my head and say, okay, NOW I'm going to REALLY start doing what I want to do or being who I want to be, but then I discount all the things I've done and all the versions of myself I've been.
But here's the thing, everything I've done up to now––everything YOU'VE done up to now––has been part of the journey. Guess what? We've been being human! :)
There is no arriving. There is no right way to do things, and when we feel like we have to discount a decision we made, or a version of ourselves we've outgrown or don't want to be anymore, there is often a subtle lie in the back of our minds saying we need to be perfect.
Perfection is boring. Perfection is a lie. It's not possible. I'll take the beautiful mess of actually trying over the tyranny of perfection any day, which is why I posted my first YouTube video two days ago.
I LOVE making videos. Documenting life through video is a hobby that really used to nourish me that I'e gotten away from.
To help me get started, I'm working through Ali Abdaal's $1 YouTube Course, and he has a lesson called "Beat Perfectionism" where he basically has you make the video I posted to stop overthinking and just start.
I am loosely calling the channel "Human to Human", of course. :) Feel free to check it out and subscribe if you want to see some videos in the coming months! :)
Whatever decisions you've made up to now, whoever you've been, it's all part of your beautiful story. Every word on the page is allowed to be there and has got you to THIS page.
So remember, perfection is a boring lie.
Keep writing your story each day. We're all eager to read it as you live it.
Sending love your way,
Shel
P.S. If you ever want to write back, just respond to these emails right from your inbox. I'm always on the other side. :)
