Sometimes I don’t share things or do things because I don’t think they will be good enough.

I think all of us can relate to a thought like that. In school we didn’t give an answer because we were afraid to be wrong. WE didn’t give our opinion on a topic because we were afraid that we would stand out from the crowd. WE just keep our heads down and try to go unnoticed. Often because being noticed comes with extra scrutiny. And being scrutinized is uncomfortable.

I think these are all things that have held me back in my life. It has kept me for a long time from doing the things that I enjoy and especially from sharing the things that I enjoy.

I am only comfortable stepping out of my comfort zone when I know I am right. When there is a correct answer that can be given and I know what that answer is. But what do we do when there is no correct answer.

That is what do we do in life. There is no right or wrong way to live ones life. There is no one perfect way to do life.

I am really good at ideas and research. I can research the hell out of something. If there is something I want to buy I can do all the research. But then at some point you have to make a decision. And that decision could turn out to be wrong. So just keep researching until you eliminate the possibility of being wrong, right? There has to be a right answer doesn’t there?

The answer is that for most of life there is no right or wrong. You try and if it fails you try again, maybe with something different. And you just keep trying until things work better and better. It is more trial and error than anything else. You can’t find the right answer without simply doing and trying and failing and trying again.

So, in a lot of ways I have given up on “doing research” in life, because for me the amount of research I would have to do to make myself comfortable with the decision I have to make is infinite. And I will never ever actually make the decision and do the thing.

So I just don’t allow for that to happen anymore. I do the amount of work/research necessary to get a given task or project done and then that is the end of it. I click publish and the end of this post and send it out into the world.

I don’t often reread and edit my posts to try and make them “as good as possible” because there are always things to change and make different. Is different better? Who’s to say. You can get stuck in this review, edit, change, cycle forever and never put your work out into the world.

I prefer the do it once. Do it at the highest level you can. Then send it out into the world. Method. This is what I apply to all the craft in my life.

My photography. Learn how to take photos. Learn about subject matter. Go out and take photos. Edited photos. Post process. Send out into the world.

Each of those steps takes exactly as long as it needs to be to get me comfortable to moving on to the next step. Could I learn more or do better at each step along the way. Yes, of course. But you can always do better given enough time. And that seems like a great way to waste a life. Searching for perfection and the absolute best is no way to live. Doing what you can when you can is the answer.

Find what you love. Give it all you’ve got. But Do IT!!! That is the most important part.

Will I ever be the best at what I do? No. Do I want to be? Also, no. I want to have fun, enjoy life, pursue my passions and share as much of it with everyone out there.

Good is often good enough. Perfect is the enemy of the good. The pursuit of perfection halts any actual progress.

I learn more from just doing what I do over and over in my flawed way. I see my flaws and mistakes and I can learn from them or not.

Recently I started creating digital art. I would never have the courage to share that art with anyone let alone everyone on the internet if not for having developed this mindset. Being a beginner at this new form of art in the past I would have felt I don’t deserve to share it. I know I have so much more to learn. But I can create art that brings me joy and maybe I it will bring you joy too. Art and joy do not require perfection.

What do you want out of life and is trying to be perfect the way to get it?

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