“safety is a very expensive illusion”
What would you do if you knew you didn’t have to do it perfectly?
How often do we not do the thing because we are afraid that we will do it wrongly.
The fear of imperfection lives in the moment of decision.
Often that brilliant idea, that channeled thought of what could become a magical creation is sabotaged by the dark cloud of perfectionism.
This cloud lingers in anticipation for cancelling the creativity that lives within us all, entangled in a web of uncertainty, wanting to break free and dance wildly in the reality of existence.
We keep so much of our own art, love, creative passions locked away in fear of creating the “wrong way”, loving the “wrong way”, living the “wrong way”...
How many opportunities do we miss out on because we are afraid of doing the damn thing, “wrongly”.
We fear rejection. We fear someone will leave us, disown us, talk badly about us, make fun of us, mock us, critique us...
All are very very possible outcomes of daring to boldly take the action of creating imperfectly.
But isn’t there something more heartbreaking than the possibility, the likelihood, of creating something imperfect, of being rejected by the person you have a crush on, by not getting the new job you put yourself out there for...
The Artist’s Way, by @juliacameronlive says “safety is a very expensive illusion”.
By not taking risks we believe we are keeping ourselves “safe” yet what we are really doing is holding ourselves hostage in a world where our dreams stay hidden in the dark cloud of perfectionism because our pride, our belief that we are too shy, too broke, not good enough...stop us from taking the risk that could transform our life into a dream of creativity, freedom and connection.
What would you do if you knew you didn’t have to do it perfectly?
What I did that scared me…
It was 2019, I had just gotten off “The bus”. I had been living on a bus with my best friend and we both realized I was in the wrong spot for my highest good, his highest good, and essentially the highest good of all. Sometimes our intuition pings us and our mind wants to fight it with everything we’ve got. Actually, that happens often. We get intuitive hits to do something, to let go of something—leave the relationship, apply for a new job, move across the country, or maybe it’s something “simpler” like….buy an easel and paint.
It has been a few weeks, maybe a month, since I’d been off the bus and I was staying with my brother’s fiancé, now my sister in law, while my brother was out of the country. By getting off the bus I had already made a “big” choice that was “hard” to make, but what came next was the knowing that I had jumped off a cliff of total unknowing. I had left my place of living, my job/income, my best friend…and now I “had nothing” and had to surrender to that. I surrendered to the deep trust that everything was happening for me, and that life always has a way of working itself out.
And so it did…I ended up manifesting my dream home during these few shorts months. BUT that isn’t the point of this story….
The point here is about the voice that kept dancing in my head that said “buy an easel and paint”.
I had been hearing this voice for a few weeks, had been hearing this gentle yet specific voice that was encouraging me to do this thing that I knew nothing about. It was persistent. But I kept ignoring it because I knew nothing about painting…..
It wasn’t until a session with my intuitive coach that she took a moment and said “I have to tell you that your guides really want you to buy an easel and paint”. My jaw dropped. For two reasons. One because I couldn’t believe what I had heard. And two because I could totally believe what I heard. This was a beautiful confirmation of my own intuition, my own connection to my guides, with God, that I had been completely ignoring.
I had been too afraid to buy an easel and paint because, well, I knew nothing about painting and “who was I to buy an easel and paint”….and “why?!”
I went to the store that day and bought and easel and started painting. Fast forward a few months and people started asking to buy my paintings. I ended up making some real money by selling paintings during a season of my life. It wasn’t about the money. I had no intention of ever selling paintings. I was just curious to listen to this voice, and rather than staying in fear of “who am I to paint” I just started doing it, without judging myself. And so not only did it lead to some money, it also led to this understanding that nothing has to be perfect, nothing has to be constant—I can be a “painter” one day, and then never do it again…It’s been quite a while since i’ve painted anything. Maybe I will again, but for now i’m cool without it. That could change tomorrow. And THAT is the beauty of life.
And the beauty of doing things without needing to do them perfectly can lead us to all sorts of new dimensions and experiences of our life! A true gift.
I challenge you—step outside of the safety illusion, and do the damn thing that feels a little uncomfortable, and roll with the knowing that you don’t have to do it perfectly—just DO IT and see what happens, without judging your experience :)