Perfection is an Illusion

Perfection is an illusion. And yet countless people let it hold them back from their goals and dreams. It’s impossible to say why this drive for something that doesn’t exist took over our way of thinking. But from what I’ve learned in child development classes in college, it happens to almost all of us at right about the same age.

(Photo Credit: Yousuf Karsh. Library and Archives Canada, e010751643)

Case in point…ALL children draw once they’re able to hold a pen, pencil, crayon, etc. In fact, they draw or paint with gleeful abandon. It doesn’t matter that no one else can tell what the subject matter is, they’ll happily explain it to you. They all go through the same developmental benchmarks with their drawings too. When drawings become recognizable to adults, people are represented by a big circle head with stick arms and legs jutting out from it. It graduates to giant heads on a rectangular body with stick arms and legs, and so on.

However, by this time, kids are in school. It doesn’t take long before they become aware of peer pressure. The fear of ridicule starts to take effect. Most kids stop drawing. It’s the rare individual that doesn’t care what anyone says and continues drawing.

Young female student drawing in art class

Later in life, some have a desire to draw or paint again but fear criticism if their work isn’t perfect. It’s understandable considering how people are these days. Haters, trolls, everyone quick to judge. But my question is…

Why do you care if perfection is an illusion?

Think about it. There is no human being anywhere on the planet that is perfect. Imperfect humans cannot make perfect things. We can agree on that, right? So, if we can agree that perfection is an illusion and therefore unattainable, how about we just let that go and move on to another train of thought.

We all have to start somewhere.

Now think about this: Was Tiger Woods an expert the very first time he picked up a golf club? Were DaVinci or Michelangelo masters from the get-go? Do you know of any highly specialized surgeon that was an expert in their field from day one? Of course not. For any expert in any field, it took years and years of practice. That includes modern day artists. That means that even though we are all imperfect…

We are all capable of improving our skills.

So, start at the beginning and practice. You don’t have to show your work to anyone if you don’t want. You could just work at your art for the sheer joy of creating. No one says you have to display anything or post it on social media. You may choose to do that once you feel you’ve improved enough that you’re comfortable doing so. It’s up to you. But the fact remains that you need to start somewhere, and you need to practice in order to improve. Yes, you will create some ugly stuff in the beginning and sometimes even as a pro. It just goes with the territory. We’re imperfect, remember? So, don’t expect everything you do to be worthy of the Louvre.

Give yourself the luxury of making mistakes for the sake of making progress. (Photo Credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 47505574 Copyright: Ion Chiosea)

Remember…

• Perfection is an illusion.
• Imperfect people cannot create perfection.
• Nobody was born an expert.
• We all have to start somewhere.
• We’re all capable of improving with practice.

Allow yourself the luxury of being a beginner. Indulge in the learning process and being allowed to make mistakes and ugly stuff. Take advantage of all the free or very cheap classes online so you don’t have to show the world anything until you’re ready. Remember that mistakes and ugly work is part of the learning process. If you don’t go through it, you’ll never improve.

So, take the burden of the illusion off your shoulders and start creating!

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