Leave Perfection Behind

This is page four in my dyed paper, demonstration book from my class Pulling It All Together at the John C Campbell Folk School. This is a tune we might sing before a meal to give thanks for the food and the focus of the school. Here is what it says:

Oh bless the food!
Oh bless the guests!
Oh bless the chaos
and the mess.
Less is more
and more is less.
Bless mistakes
above success.

What I enjoy when we sing this one, is that the focus is not on perfection or behaviors…it is on giving thanks for chaos, mess and mistakes! When was the last time you gave thanks for your opportunities to do things wrong? Or even started something hoping you might make mistakes such that your learning and expertise could be improved? This is not how most of us start things. Do we work hard to do it perfectly, simply because we fear failure OR because we have been taught that perfection is the real goal and the only acceptable outcome? HHHmmmm….

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again…perfection is a lie. NOTHING is perfect. No one is perfect, no matter what your Mother tells you!! Once I was able to give up my need to produce perfection, the tension valve in my soul was released and I was able to become who I never imagined I could become. My extemporaneous side was unleashed and I could do what I felt, not just what perfection demanded.

Let me encourage you to take time today to give thanks for chaos and mess. To give yourself the gift of making mistakes on purpose, to see what happens, to experience how ti feels, and to learn something you might not have thought you could learn. Our skills and knowledge grow exponentially when we give ourselves the freedom to try, fail and then try again. Leave perfection behind and unleash your inner creative soul, the one you truly want to be not just the one other people think you should be.