This is actually about you.

Have you ever spent multiple hours on something that should have taken 10 minutes, trying to make sure it came out perfect? Do you agonize about the things you post on social media, wondering if it is good enough? Do you sacrifice your own style preferences for those more popular in order to blend in? Are you afraid of what others will think of you if you do something “out of character” or pursue a career or passion you’ve had the desire to do for ages? If you are like me and some (or maybe all) of these things pertain to you, then let’s have a conversation.

I’ve taken some time to delve into both my recent and past life experiences. While you may (depending on your opinions and background) call this by a different name, I have found it’s not a fear of failure, but my perfectionist tendencies that hold me back from trying new things, meeting new people, and ultimately being the person I want to be. 

Maybe fear of failure, low self-esteem, or some other word better applies here, but I have recently realized that if I actively do something despite any parts of it that I perceive as imperfect, I’m able to grow, evolve, change, and develop the skills and hobbies that I’ve wanted to for so long. There are so many more things worth learning that I’ve spent my life telling myself just weren’t for me. In other words, I didn’t want to do anything in which I couldn’t create my idea of a perfect outcome. This hyper-focus on imperfections is what was blocking my creative flow. It was really claustrophobic and the lack of creative output caused a lot of problems in my life. 

I am happy to say that I'm now making it a point to act on everything I previously told myself I couldn't do, with the understanding that it won’t come out perfectly. Hence, the birth of this blog/vlog thing and imPerfect Justine. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time.

I have more confessions to get off my chest and believe honesty is always the best policy so here it goes...I’m a perfectionist. I have extreme introverted tendencies. I have a huge fear of public speaking. Crooked things drive me crazy. I’ve been told that I appear stoic and unapproachable. I think glasses look cute on everyone except me. Windy days are one of my pet-peeves. I don’t like owning a phone and secretly contemplate throwing it in the garbage on a regular basis. I’d rather hang out with my animals than anyone else. I have a lot more, but for the sake of brevity, I will leave it at that…Wow… it feels great to get all that out.

I hope that by presenting this in such a stark and unattractive manner, it will capture your attention and maybe inspire you to stop holding yourself back and resolve to step into something new. Which segues nicely into my next point. This blog, really Imperfect Justine as a whole, is going to be a voyage. I have a laundry-list of things I’ve been wanting to do and skills I want to develop, but I haven’t done them because to do them is to invite imperfection and external judgements into my world. Our perceived imperfections are what differentiate us and are, in actuality, the fuel that pushes us to proceed in spite of them and go after the things that we’ve long desired. All you need to do is turn on the ignition. At least, this is how I look at it.

In closing, here is the list of things I am now pursuing avidly since I have uncovered this sneaky secret in my own life: Imperfections are in their own right, actually what makes something perfect. I hope you’ll be imperfect with me, at least a few times a week, as I record the process of learning new things and surprise you with all the opportunities it brings. My fondest wish, is that you’ll consider some of the things that you’ve been wanting to do, and maybe decide to do at least one. Who knows?! Maybe you’ll end up sticking around for the whole journey and to learn some of the fun things on the list below, too. Note that these are in no particular order and while some of the items I’ve already started to learn (at the time of this post), most are at 0% knowability. Also, this is just a sample, if I put my whole list on here, you’d be overwhelmed.

A few things:

Start a DIY blog.

Paint more wall murals.

Publish a novel.

Open a coffee shop.

Sew my own wardrobe.

Make a pair of shoes.

Gain skills in carpentry.

Dive into the art of hand made buttons.

Learn equestrian vaulting. 

Gain leather working skills.

Have a seasonal vegetable garden.

Learn the harp.

Open an animal rescue.

Train my own liberty horse team.

Build a cottage by hand from the ground up.

What are some of the things that you want to learn? Add them to the comments below and maybe we can start learning together. Thank you so much for reading and I can’t wait to see where this adventure takes us!

Talk soon.

iP Justine