Elizabeth Gilbert Let s call Perfectionism What It Really Is

That's one of the things that I think I highlighted most of all in Big Magic is the idea that perfectionism is really something we should try and let go of when we're trying to be creative, let go of perfectionism, is that right? Yeah, except to do that you have to call it by its true name and so because I think that a lot of perfectionists, including myself, we use that word because we pretend it's a fault. It's what you say in a job interview, right? My biggest, if anything, I'm too much of a perfectionist. I care too much, you know. You actually secretly think it's a virtue and so the trick is to actually expose it, to pull off its fake mask and to expose perfectionism and call it by its real name, which is fear. That's all it is. It's fear. It's fear that you're not good enough. It's fear that you're not worthy. It's fear that you're going to be revealed, uncovered, exposed, betrayed, criticized, all of it and so you're trying to mask that absolute terror by never making a misstep and I feel like when I call my perfectionism fear, it's easier to actually make it go away because that's not as sexy and it doesn't sound as fancy. I always say that perfectionism is just fear and high heels and a mink coat pretending to be fancy like, you know, or like a sort of a mustache and a, you know, but it's a disguise. It's just terror. It's just terror. That's the terror. It's the lie. Perfectionism is the lie that says that there's some kind of a rent that you have to pay to be here on this earth and that you've got to master it in order to be allowed to be here. When there isn't one, you already, it's like you're auditioning for a part you already got. You get to just be here. You don't have to be perfect to be here or even good. You just don't have to actually do anything. You're allowed to just be.