Perfectionism Has No Place In Your Journal

Creative journalling is a process. A journey. An exploration. A kind of adventure. Requiring us to let go and let live. There will be ebbs. There will be flows. There will be mistakes. There may be blobs. Dribbles. Scrawls which make your skin crawl.

But perfectionism will get you nowhere. As author Anne Lamott writes:

“Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend. What people somehow (inadvertently, I’m sure) forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here …”

In short, there is no such thing as a mistake when it comes to journalling. Only opportunities. Serendipity.

Making Holes

When I rubbed a hole in a page of an altered book I was creating for the 2021 Leigh Art Trail at first I was dismayed. Then, I decided to embrace the hole. And I made more. All. The. Way. Through. Like The Hungry Caterpillar.

And, you know, to me, the holes made it better. Better than my oh-so-perfect plan. Because I let go.

Maybe you’d do something different with that hole. Paint it. Cover it. Stitch into it. The point is we can use the imperfections on the page to create something new, something different. Both in our journals and in ourselves.

Building Bridges

When your inner critic starts sniping. You made a mistake! Start again! Give up! What an idiot! You were never the creative one anyway! Consider where it’s coming from. As author and inspirational speaker Danielle Laporte shares:

“The first thing to do with that inner critic voice is to have compassion for it.”

She goes onto say:

“When you approach self-generated criticism with compassion, instead of creating further separation from your heart, you’re building a bridge.”

And:

“With compassion, you can parent your inner child. You can be your own authority and cheerleader.”

Create With Compassion

To create something worthwhile. Something that truly reflects who, where, why we are. Something that will reveal. Reconnect. And help us to reimagine. We must learn to create with compassion. And without shame.

“Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence.”

– Marcus Aurelius.