My sink never seems empty of dishes. My notebooks are messy and my apartment is never clean enough. I don’t stay in touch with loved ones the way I’d like and I’ll never catch up on everything I have to do.
The one book I’ve returned late to the library is Brené Brown’s book, The Gift of Imperfection.
Are you imperfect too?
With Brené’s help, I’m coming to see how charming imperfection is. It’s the mis-aligned seams, the flower arrangement that isn’t quite symmetrical…those are the interesting parts of life.
And imperfection is the reality for all of us. ‘Perfect’ doesn’t exist – anywhere.
When people tell me they are perfectionists, I sense their inner critic is in charge. With impossibly high demands, this perfectionist monster robs our joy. We churn away at our work, never letting ourselves love the messy process.
I say enough! Our imperfections are a gateway to our humility. They force us to turn kindness and compassion on ourselves. The sentences we don’t quite master, the thought we can’t totally articulate, these are the places where we get to feel our unique humanity.
Embracing imperfection is vital to my clients’ writing process. Every successful, published piece starts as a series of messy drafts. Releasing the expectation of perfection isn’t always easy. But it is possible, and I’ve seen hundreds of my writing students get past their perfectionist bias.
We use free writing method to get our drafts out. To see gems among the imperfect, rambling paragraphs. To listen long enough to the stories that we’re most compelled to tell.
Ironically, the thing we seem to fear the most – unbridled chaos – is also the thing my clients love – losing themselves in their words, writing a way to explore and discover.
In my online writing course, Free Write Fling, I ask participants to share three words at the end of each writing session. These words simply describe their experience in the free write. The words are mind-blowing. What the free writing process engenders is nothing short of brilliant.
Why not let your imperfection be your best asset? Join us in October for the Free Write Fling.
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