Stop Being Perfect
I’ll tell you right away. The entire purpose of this article is to write. There isn’t necessarily a point or a structure. The point is just to write. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article called, “Your Conscious Stream”. I wrote it because I wanted to try writing without having a laid out plan. I wanted to write something in a public forum that was close to free writing, but something I actually published. (If you are not aware, free-writing is simply sitting down and writing whatever you feel like for as long as you feel like without worrying about grammar, punctuation or anything typically associated with structured writing.) I wanted to write something that may or may not have a point. I wanted to write something where I was just letting my fingers flow over the keyboard without thinking too deeply. If it made sense…great! If not, then that would be cool also. I didn’t come up with a title. I simply sat and began to write.
What came to mind was related to something I had recently been reading and thinking about. I began simply typing and an article appeared. Yep…just like that. An article appeared out of thin air. One of the issue that many writers have is over thinking. Well, maybe I won’t exactly call them writers because they are not really writing. They’re thinking mainly. So, maybe they’re thinkers…thinkers who happen to churn out an article or two sometimes.
Anyway, I wanted to simply write without fear of failure. I wanted to write without being perfect. One of the things I often have trouble with is looking over a sentence and wondering whether or not I could say it differently or better. Nothing wrong with that. But, it slows me down some times. If I simply sat and wrote, I could have many more articles or even books completed. Truth is, I’ve been around for 4 decades. I know a lot of stuff. I don’t have to be overly critical. I can simply sit to write and things are going to come out without me trying very hard. Just letting myself go and letting my mind write freely is an exercise I should try more often. This is a form of self expression. It’s one of the ways to become fully self-expressed. Most of us don’t understand what this is. People who are fully self-expressed are authentic and not concerned about the thoughts of others. They are living their fullest and the fire burning in their hearts comes out without filter. They are able to live each day knowing they did what they were supposed to do. That’s a powerful way to live. Trouble is, most of us are afraid of being truly and fully self-expressed. To some, it may feel out of control. It may feel like you live with the possibility of offending someone. It may feel like you could lose everything you worked for. It may feel like you are so naked and opening up yourself for criticism. It is a scary place to be and strangely a safe place to be. It is the place where you don’t know what’s next but you are confident in what you are supposed to do. For writers, it is the place where you can write and dump and share and write and just do what you feel like without worrying about the English professor or the grammar police. It is the zone where you don’t need to worry about being perfect. It’s the zone where you just get things done and then they’re done. It’s the zone where you aren’t even worried about proofreading.
Isn’t that amazing? When you drop the need for perfection in every circumstance, you come closer to full expression. This full expression doesn’t only give you freedom. It also feeds those around you.
It’s time to stop worrying. It’s time to fully assume your role. It’s time to give up perfection. Bent nails still make holes in wood. It’s time to jump all-in. It’s time to play with reckless abandon. It’s time to see what great things you can accomplish if you let go of all of the false stories you’ve been subscribing to. It’s time for me to stop writing and click the publish button on this puppy.
