Isn't the idea of perfection an ever moving target? 

Isn't it like beauty? Always in the eye of the beholder? As a reformed queen of overwhelm, I know that the nature of perfectionism is the main ingredient in any recipe for overwhelm. Why? Because we will never get 'there'. It will never be achieved, and just like a house that you just cleaned, the dirt you picked up while putting out that last garbage bag comes right back in the house so that the fleeting notion of perfection never truly satisfies.

I assume you know a lot about this if you've decided to read this article. You might get that perfectionism is a far deeper core thing that says a lot about our feeling of 'enoughness', or that it can suck the life out of you faster than a pet hair Dyson.

I invite you to consider the following:

Do you think excellence (as an alternative to perfection) could ever be enough? 

Can you crack open your minds eye for just a moment to consider that what you've given your very best to is really excellent work? That what you have done is enough? Is it possible to see the value of letting your work stand for all that you are - the parts of you that struggle, the parts that doubt & even the parts that know about failure? Or would we rather prefer that these parts never see the light of day? And if this is true - what does it cost you? Historically, it has cost me the joy I may have had in the act of creating, versus the stress I felt to get it all right. 

To be truly valued, it may be that we have to let it all hang out. Let ourselves be fully seen, so that it is a lot more obvious how much went into that project, that email, that blog, that dinner you created. Can we begin to honour the parts that hurt, that fall down, and for damn sure the part of us that has gotten back up over & over, willing to do it all again, even in the face of judgement, shame, blame, guilt & even cruelty?

My secret wish for you is that everything you do does not only represent the 'acceptable' parts of you - the parts of you that are valued by others.  

I dream of a world that we get to put it all out there on the table - the untamed parts, the parts that haven't found their place, the parts that have lived under the pressures of potential unworthiness - the parts that have never seen the light of day. Bring them forth & let them have their day in the sun! Let yourself breathe again - and find a sense of wholeness that could never come from a place excludes any part of you.