Do you know those who prepare themselves for a job interview and think what they will answer if they will be asked to name a bad quality of theirs, and plan to say perfectionism, thinking it is actually a good thing?
So, no. It is not.
I would not want to hire someone who is a perfectionist. What is hidden behind this title, among other things, is also procrastination.
Those who strive for perfection find it difficult to complete work and submit it. Sometimes the fear of making a mistake is so great that it prevents them from even starting to do the work.
Remember what it was like to learn a new language? There are those who will not say a word unless the teacher addresses them, and others who will talk endlessly. Those on their first trip abroad will start babbling in the new language and those who will stand aside and only listen, frightened of making a mistake. It is clear that the daring and experimenters will progress and improve their language more than those who avoid it. It is also clear that they will make mistakes. They simply treat it differently.
The way the mistake is treated is perhaps the essence. I have already written about the Japanese approach known as wabi sabi. An attitude that sees mistakes as the deepest beauty.
I find that freestyle painting is a wonderful remedy for those suffering from perfectionism, and actually also for those suffering from it in smaller doses and perhaps not really diagnosed as such.
Freestyle painting:
• Shouldn't resemble anything. If there is nothing to compare to, everything we do can be good.
• Unplanned. If there is no planning, any direction we take in the process is legitimate.
• If a mistake happened such as paint that came out too thick or too liquid and spilled where we didn't
intend, we can look at what happened with fresh eyes and maybe even see it as a happy accident.
• If we choose the appropriate materials (for me these are acrylic paints) we can always continue the work. No one said that you should start and immediately complete a painting. If we are not satisfied - this is just another layer.
• A good freestyle painting is a painting in which we express ourselves in the most authentic way. Since only we know what the truth is, the range of external criticism is reduced and the perfectionist is given more space to experiment.
Since Freestyle painting has the power to free the perfectionist from the need to prove accuracy and perfection, it is the perfect prescription for treatment 😊
P.S
Did you know that Darwin (from the previous post) was a perfectionist?
He delayed publishing his theory of evolution and natural selection for over 20 years because he wanted to present conclusive and satisfactory evidence, until finally someone got ahead of him...