(Photo is from the internet - and does not represent my own living space!)"Perfectionists have a hard time starting things and an even harder time finishing them." When quilts or any art pieces are for a competition, they have to be perfect ...
This notion could be what's keeping me from starting the quilt for the Breakthrough challenge. It's for a juried show - it's got to be perfect, right? It has to start with the best possible idea, no also-rans; it has to be made in the right materials, which may not yet be in my stash; and every stitch has to be perfect, right?
I'm stuck at the sampling stage - no, at the still-generating-ideas stage!
This article has three steps for escaping perfectionism:
1. Don't try to get it right in one big step. Just get it going. (Succeeding in small manageable goals builds your confidence)
2. Do what feels right to you, not to others. (Being "good enough" is ok)
3 Choose your friends, coworkers, and bosses wisely. (Focus on seven things people are doing right before you point out something they're doing wrong)
Ah the magic number seven - among the many groups of seven, here are the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades -
Of course, a good way to never get started is to keep looking for the perfect idea...
It's a bit like writing those high school and Uni essays really, isn't it? Dad always told me just to start writing, and worry about editing the beginning later. He was right, as usual! I try to remember that when I'm starting a project, because just putting the fabrics and threads together seems to help the ideas formulate. Then, even if I end up starting another piece entirely, I can always use the first one somewhere, somehow. It's never entirely wasted, and it's the "jumping off" point that Idibese need...
ReplyDeleteHmmm...how did that happen? The last part should read "that I need"!! The Word Verfication somehow ended up in the middle of my comment. Weird.
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