Gretchen Rubin advises not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I'm a perfectionist from birth (I am an editor, after all), so this is hard for me. But I get what she's saying. Doing something, even if it's not everything you'd hoped it would be, is better than letting your perfectionism keep you from doing anything at all.
The reason my books haven't gotten anywhere: They keep turning into chick lit, and I don't want to be a chick lit author. So I stop writing. Meanwhile, my best friend is making money from his writing. Sure, it's not his dream gig -- he's selling smut on Amazon. But at least he's being read. (And getting paid!)
The reason this blog isn't getting anywhere: I keep waiting for a topic idea (not an issue) and the time to write it (um...) and also time to polish the writing into something I'm proud of (ahahahaha). Ultimately, I don't end up posting anything.
I've been applying the "good enough" approach to other areas of my life. I am learning to live with a house that looks clean on the surface. (If a door is shut, please don't open it.) I'm okay with doing some form of exercise most days, meditating almost every day (even when I fall asleep doing it), and having well-rounded family dinners often. I should cut myself some slack in other areas. Like this blog.
I follow all manner of creative people on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. I like seeing how their minds work -- what they're doing, reading, making. It's inspiring to me. I don't want to be the person who works all day, watches TV all night, cleans all weekend, and never creates anything. But I have something most of them don't: Small children. Who also want a piece of me. And they come first.
Still, I want to do something. So I am going to try to post M-F, even if it's just a thought or a photo. Expect a rocky start; I've got a ton of freelancing work at the moment, and am also trying to get some other plates spinning (minor things like regular exercise and adequate sleep). I've queued up a few ideas to get the ball rolling.
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