I have a confession I'm a perfectionist but not a very good one. I love the idea of everything having its place and approaching a project with complete focus and mindfulness so the result is flawless. The only problem Is I come up to an obstacle decide its not going to be perfect and give up. The idea of something not being finished to perfection is too difficult to bear. As I have got older I have learnt to be patient, take baby steps and understand I have to start somewhere and my Yoga training has taught me to let go of outcomes and focus on the journey. But there is always a part me that focuses on perfection. I love looking at items that have been loving created by crafts people from years of experience polishing out imperfections over those years. I love chocolate, OK love isn't strong enough. I adore chocolate and nothing please me more then finding crafted chocolate made by an passionate chocolatier . Of course chocolate at that quality comes at a price and is a once maybe if I'm lucky twice a year treat. But then if I had it more often it wouldn't be perfect. This is the key to perfection and how perfection can be enjoyed. It has to be rare other wise It isn't perfect. So struggling perfectionists' like my self out there do still strive for perfection with compassion for ourselves. it makes us better. But remember for perfection to be enjoyed it needs to be rare.
so what do you want to be when you grow up? a question that as a child is cute. A firefighter, a ballerina, a knight or a princess. But then in the teenage years becomes a source of anxiety. Suddenly at 15/16 years old you are expected to make big decisions on your career. For some this is easy. They know the path they want to take and take it. For others including myself we go for one career idea to another. Our education zig zaging across different subjects and still not knowing what the final subject should be. Yesterday I watched a TED talk by ..... And had a bit of a epiphany. For years this question has caused anxiety and at times depressive thoughts for me. My mum always knew what she wanted to be and my dad always tinkered with computers and electronics so they found their careers reasonable easy and both have been successful at what they do. What's wrong with having multiple pursuits instead of being what she refers to as a specialist. My partner is of a similar mindset. Throwing ourselves in to a project to then get bored and move on to another. The answer is there is absolutely nothing wrong. In fact the world needs a balance of multi-skilled and specialists. So maybe instead of asking what do you want to be when you grow up. Maybe we should ask. What are you going to be today? Simple living is a choice. It’s the decision to declutter your life, your house, your mind and your body. By removing distractions we can really find what it important in our life. I am aiming to live more simply and spend less time doing unimportant things.
The best way to start simple living is to make of list of four or five things which are most important to you. Make them very specific. This may take time and lots of editing, they might change as life changes, flow with that. Once you have found what is important to you, begin to look at what is creating noise in your life. For example that TV series you are watching. Is it really important to you? Sometimes you are committing hours of your life over a span of years to watch all the episodes. What about Digital clutter? Look at your Todo list. Is that cluttered also. What about the room you are in? No one is perfect. As i write this i have a pile of bin bags full of papers i have sorted out ready to go to recycling. It is a process and you have to start somewhere. Simple living can go to extremes. You don’t need to live like a minimalist to enjoy living simply. It's about recognising what enriches you live and what doesn’t. I plan to explore simple living more in later Blog posts. |
AuthorEmma Frances lives with her husband in a little cottage in North Wales ArchivesCategories |