The relief of being “bad” - Breaking the overwhelming need for perfection

In a world where we feel stressed and the pressures to be great or even perfect, it becomes more important to embrace playfulness and embrace mistakes and being “bad” at something. Taking the opportunity to do something for the joy it brings, rather than adding that pressure to excel at it.

We often feel pressure to be great and do something meaningful, now more so than ever with the rise of social media and the comparisons that arise from there and the emphasis placed on productivity and success. 

The pressure of “perfection”

The need to be good often takes something you were passionate about and turns it into a chore. It saps the joy out of something that you used to look forward to. Like that young artist who would paint everyday, now struggles to find the motivation to pick up the paintbrush because they have “no idea” of what to paint, now that it’s become their job or now that someone somewhere is getting more clicks. 

The increased audience can add to the fear of judgement and fear of failure. Stifling your curiosity and willingness to try new things, and become a beginner again. Robbing yourself of opportunities to grow and develop.

The rise of hustle culture and get rich quick mentality on social media will overwhelm you and trick you into believing, if you aren’t doing 20 different things you aren’t doing enough. Filling you with feelings of inadequacy, burnout and exhaustion, trying to meet standards that are unrealistic. 

To liberate ourselves from the mountain of expectations we should take time to be “bad” at things.

The relief of being “bad”

There is a practice people do when drawing, they draw with a pen so that they cannot erase their mistakes and have to embrace them either by leaving them in or creatively incorporating them into the art work.  This takes the pressure off of creating the perfect picture and offers encouragement to be playful.  The initial dread of making a mistake, slowly disappears and frees up the mind to just create freely without fear, just for creations sake. Mistakes can lead to unique findings and creative expressions that you wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. 

So whether it’s making Lego, dancing when no one's watching, singing in the shower. If you’re painting, crocheting, writing a novel. Allow yourself the opportunity to have fun and do it because it makes you happy. It will allow you to have more fun and joy which will allow you to be more productive and less stressed.

Stripping yourself of the need to be perfect and allowing yourself to do things just for the joy that it gives you, is a powerful source of motivation and can allow you to be more playful, curious and engaged in the activity leading to greater results.  It provides you not only with creativity, and reducing stress but it also helps you develop problem solving skills. 

Liberating you from the pressure and stress to be great, and teach you that mistakes are a part of life and nothing to be afraid and ashamed of. There is beauty in them

Wabi Sabi

There is a Japanese philosophy brought by Zen Buddhism, called Wabi Sabi. It is the appreciation of the imperfect and the impermanence. It is seen often in art, while in western art, perfection and symmetry were valued, in Japan the aesthetics of imperfect, impermanent and modest were appreciated. But Art often is a reflection of the spiritual values and thus this belief can cascade out into all parts of life. All things in life are imperfect and impermanent and incomplete. Human beings included.  Instead of diminishing the beauty of weathered gates and eroded stones, it finds beauty in it. We can channel this mindset to help us  embrace the imperfect cycles of nature and celebrate the little quirks that make each person unique. . 

Conclusion

It’s important to strive for meaning and growth. We cover that often on this website and our youtube channel, but it is essential to find a balance. Allow yourself time to be playful and embrace the imperfect and the chaos.  Try new things and don’t berate yourself for struggling, show some compassion and allow yourself to find the joy of doing the activity without having expectations.

Find a way to channel and champion your own unique imperfection. Go out there and be “bad”

For more check out our Youtube video on the topic