Rearing it's ugly head.

Perfectionism.
I've mentioned this word in a previous post, but it comes up more than we care to admit.

A good friend of mine who is a grad school student came over for lunch today.  We talked about the various deadlines and papers and expectations she has for herself, and then she asked me this question:
What's the difference between perfectionism and excellence?
    I answered her, "Freedom". 
  
  When we do things excellently, not that there isn't hard work, deep research, effort, and demand involved, etc., but there's a freedom that comes along with it.  A freedom that takes part in a job well done, but can let go of ego, or let go of the ways in which we falsely identify ourselves.  Excellence says more about how well we know ourselves, without the entanglement of judgement--a judgement that we often place upon others, and a criticism we often place upon ourselves.  Excellence celebrates, while leaving room for growth, and we all know that perfectionism is debilitating.  I think I would go so far as to say that perfectionism is self-indulgent.  Not that we shouldn't care about a doing a wonderful job as a parent, a spouse, a student, an artist, but we should not do it at the expense of our relationships.  1.) the relationship we have with our own lives, and 2.) how we interact with others.  Perfectionism seems to demand the position of I SHOULD KNOW IT and I ALREADY KNOW IT.  And it can demand that from others.  Perfectionism doesn't leave room to be real human beings with sometimes goofy and misshapen ways of communicating and learning, presenting and executing. It doesn't leave room for time and maturation and the breathing room of growth.  It doesn't leave room for humor and understanding.

I would want for my friend, and even myself, to not just be a production of a "perfect" paper, or even in a larger sense, a "perfect" human being--because really who likes to be around those kind of people anyway?;-) 
Again, go be excellent.  It's a lot lighter load to bear and a lot more fun to be around:-).