- A student beats himself up because, despite sacrificing his need for social interaction for long hours of studying for that looming midterm, he scores a 93 rather than a perfect 100.
- A senior-level office manager lies awake in her bed at night scared for her job security for no tangible reason other than a minor miscalculation on a financial report. The year-end projection calculation was off by 2%, and her supervisor had qualified it with a simple but generally positive statement in the response email: "Great job on your bullet points - we only found one mistake, so please correct when you can. Thanks, and keep up the hard work!"
- Trying to ignore her rumbling stomach, a college co-ed rolls stares at a photograph of a woman in a magazine who is thin, lithe...perfect. Like every morning before for the past three months, and every morning moving forward for the next year, she renews her "strength" to skip each meal with the empty promise of perfection that stares back at her.
Do any of these situations sound familiar to you? I know I can identify with all three, as I'll admit that I'm an individual whom has struggled with the pursuit of perfection my entire life.
Perfectionism is a subject that's almost painful to approach because of how ironically exposing it actually is. At the same time, for those involved in creative fields - specifically, worship arts - I feel that it's absolutely vital to explore how perfectionism and the idea of biblical excellence contrast. As a matter of fact, I believe it's so important that I'm commiting the next few weeks to blogging specifically about it!
Keep an eye out for part one - "A Perfect Diagnosis" - where we discover how to identify perfectionism in oneself and in others. I'll see you there!
Emily
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