Pressure & Perfection

"Wine Tasting Border", 3" x 7", watercolor & ink, copyright Erin Rogers Pickering

To say I am a perfectionist is an understatement. It is my greatest stumbling block. I started this blog to document my journey to reclaiming & maintaining good health and yet if I can't find the perfect thing to say with a matching illustration, it seems I can't say anything. I need to constantly remind myself that it’s the process that counts. If so then every piece along the way, good bad or anywhere in between, is fine just for the reason that it is ALL part of the adventure.

This is so with all the main aspects of my life… my art, the food I consume, my relationships and motherhood. Now I always try to do the right thing for all of above for many reasons but perfect is not always (or ever) possible. If mistakes happen along the way I need to learn from them and move on. I also need to stop putting enormous pressure on myself... It is counterproductive to all that I want to accomplish. See that...back to focusing on the end product.

I was reminded last night that it’s all part of life and there are an infinite number of opportunities to make choices in any given day.  So I am shifting my focus from accomplishing perfection to staying in the moment, and viewing it all as the work in progress that it is; an ongoing creation and interaction.

To that end I release myself from the need to always have the perfect thing to write here matched with the perfectly appropriate art/illustration.