NaNoWriMo has pretty much monopolized my life, which is a good thing actually, because I love to write. Just love it. It's a lot of pressure though to do so every day and to get a certain number of words every day. I know, though, that I'm learning things from the intensity that I could learn no other way, just like I did from BE BRAVE. I'm an intensity fan.
"Life is short. Intensity rules."---Me
So, if you're able to watch the video, you'll see I'm learning from my mistakes. How could I hope for more?
Love to each and every one of you, the ones who comment and to whom I get to wish lots of good things for, and the ones who don't! Peace, love, and joy, O
14 comments:
I ordered bracelets, too! Hey, I totally know what you mean about being intense. I also throw myself into anything I do with complete abandon, though I have been trying for some years to do SOME things in a mediocre manner just to see how that feels to my ego...just to break the perfectionism a bit. But your 'not an apology' reminds me of being in school and feeling I had to apologize to the rest of the class for setting the grading curve. Ugh.
Hi, Kelly,
Can't wait for the bracelets. I'm thinking today they'll come. I know what you mean about experimenting with mediocrity; I've been successful lately at doing things half-assed, which has brought me great pleasure. I don't like being ruled by anything, especially perfectionism.
You saw through my "not an apology", Kelly. That's residual from school, always trying to justify how I do things. You have an uncanny ability to see behind my words, Kelly.
Love and peace and well-wishes,
O
I think you guys need some new perspective on this whole "doing things in a mediocre way" subject!
What if you learned that a certain task, which now takes you 15 minutes, would be perfectly suitable for everyday use (yikes...now I have devolved into the generic foods description!!) when completed in a different way which took you five minutes?
In other words, remove the judgment words. Not "mediocre" or "half-assed", but "meets the requirement". A nice, descriptive, non-emotional term. The average person, when using the output of your task, would not be able to distinguish it from the old, perfectionist version. You would, of course, but the average person would not notice at all.
What then, ladies?
I'm not proposing for a second that you have these kinds of tasks or regularly performed chores in your lives today. Then, again...
Full confession: I know something about this because I am completely guilty of overwhelming perfectionism. Not all the time, but enough of the time that I recognize when it shows its perfectly white teeth.
Olivia,
Now you were not talking about me were you... We still love you even if you are an overachiever. I've hardly written today at all, we'll see if I can make 13,336 tonight or not. If not tomorrow is another day...
Oh loved the video, your hair looked great.
kate
You know, Rick, you're absolutely right. Those words are dripping with judgment. Most like no one else would ever notice! You're absolutely right.
Yet it's so easy to rip into what I do and label it with a pejorative label when it's fine. And it doesn't need to be done with extra effort or attention to excellence. That would be a waste of energy. The key is, I think, being able to discriminate between those tasks that would benefit from superior effort and those that would not.
Thank you for this fine perspective on something that could be life-changing. I will experiment with this and share my reflections in a later post.
Wow, Rick--you have a keen eye and saw what was behind those words!
Thank you so very much,
O
Kate,
Tee hee, actually I was :)
Your comment (on another blog) just triggered a bunch of stuff for me from years and years of school teasing and interactions for years after that. It was a good thing, though, because it got me to really look at where I was coming from with it.
As Kelly said, "Ugh". It's so many years later, and it's about time that I revisit this issue (obviously, or it wouldn't have happened).
No problemo, friend.
I love you, too,
O
you amaze me. i wish it was legal to pay you to write my thesis! :)-
keep up the good work!
Jessie, I think you are the absolute best writer I know! You are THE BEST person to write your thesis. (Besides, I'm through with writing stuff I don't want to write, and I wrote one thesis already. The end!)
Come on, now, you can do it! Maybe you can have F-U-N doing it---whoo hoo!?!?
Love you, O
What I loved to see, Olivia, was the amount of attention and love you poured into the "refresh/reorganize/clean up the pantry" chore.
For you, it was on your list of brave things to do, yet it was also obvious that it was a great experience. It is a wonderful example of the "Olivia over the top" perfectionist and high-energy effort, and the rewards both in the moment of doing it and reaped afterward made it worth it!
Rick, maybe then, I know somewhere inside what is worth it and what's not. If I trust myself and listen to myself this will become apparent. This is a provocative topic, I think, one that I will continue to think on and experiment with.
Thank you for your insights, Rick...Keep 'em coming!
Gratefully yours in love,
O
Hi Olivia -
Just catching up with your posts - you're awesome (LOVED the Gratitude Dance), and you're so right, we each do things in our own way, whatever way that works for us.
I've finally discovered that just sitting in front of the screen trying to make myself write X number of words, tends to have the opposite result - I had been freezing up the word flow, by trying to force it. But if I step away, and do something physical for a bit, it opens the 'tap' back up, and I can sit down again and let it flow then - till the next time.
We each have our ways, and should never feel apologetic for being ourselves - but just write on, each in our own way.
Have a blessed day!
Yes, tinker, I agree with you...and you write on! Congratulations on your wonderful word storm. As long as we have fun, enjoy the process, and learn, we'll be fine and it will be worth it. Blessings and love, O
Olivia, I am so excited! I got to see all of this video. 2.22 secs of hanging out with you. It was great!
Annie
xxx
Yay, Annie, I'm so glad! Blessings and a better day for you today, Love, O
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