A Road to “Perfection”
One of the natural human urges is to pursue "perfection". It's such an abstract concept but it often feels tangible. It lives in such a constant demand to be met, yet once we think we reach it, it just grows further and further. Because ultimately, a rich man is not the man who gets everything he wants, but a man who can be satisfied with what he has. If you're always chasing infinity, then you'll never be rich.
Throughout this whole year, blogs have been that reoccurring event every weekend that some would look forward to. 250 word limit and a few creative ideas with no real rubric in exchange for 10 points? That's a no-brainer trade. I've personally always tried to make my blogs every week at least a little better than the last (with around a 35% success rate), and even with my many writing flaws, this whole process remained enjoyable. Sure, I wished to improve more and more each blog, but that concept should be set on the opposite side of the spectrum in context to aiming for perfection.
This is all to say that I believe progress is found through countless attempts as opposed to being driven by a pursuit of perfection. I say this very literally, so it sounds obvious, but I used to often find myself being stuck in that trap of perfection. Music is one of my largest interests, so constantly asking myself “does this sound how I want it to sound?” isn’t foreign to me. But, I ask it out of improvement instead of perfectionism. They may hold similar endings, but the journey in itself is led very differently.

Perfectionism is not something many people are proud of but in my opinion I feel it also disiplines you, your blog was very insightful.
ReplyDeleteQuite interesting the blogs are what you decided to write about after a long hour of contemplating. This is very relatable and a nice piece as one of the last blogs.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how you separate incremental improvement from the general pursuit of perfection. It's not really like those two events have to be mutually exclusive though. You could still pursue perfection while going through countless attempts at small improvements. I think I disagree with your point that they have similar endings but different journeys. The journeys can be similar or different but the ending imo is pretty different ig. If you see success in little improvement then the ending will be more joyous compared to the feeling of never being perfect enough if you choose the other path...
ReplyDeleteInsightful? Not so sure about that. Utterly life changing? That is true. Your blog is a blend of masterful writing and breathtaking views on life that combine to make your best works this year.
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