"Perfection" the creativity killer

 Some one has accused my needlework of being "Precise and Perfect". *

While I have no issue with "Precise" being attached to my efforts, "Perfect" bothers me.

And its not that I don't strive for, if not "Perfection", than at least a clean line, a tidy stitch or something resembling "Precision". 

As a word applied to myself "precision" bothers me much less than "Perfection".

Why is that?

I have found precision through many hours of practice. This is a word, I can own and incorporate in reference to myself and not feel arrogance or conceit, because I have earned it.

But "Perfection" bothers me.

While nature strives for symmetry, "Perfection" in nature looks wrong. You have but to look at any manufactured thing to see that. Silk flowers, when put next to real ones, look stiff, fake because of their perfection, their sameness. I do not strive for it, in fact I will actively rail against it in class and my own work. What I strive for in my own art is more symmetry and balance,

Even the human face is not "Perfect" one eye or the ear is always lower than the other or a cheek is fuller. and no two are the same even in identical twins but symmetry is everywhere.

When I teach, I specifically rail against "Perfection". It has no place in a classroom where people are learning a new skill.  

"Perfection" is the creativity killer. I call on my students to refrain from their temptations, to rip out their own hard work, because it is not "Perfect". They are learning a new skill, of course it is not perfect!

If they rip it out, every time a stitch is not perfect, they will spend more time in the UNdoing than the doing and possibly enjoy WHAT they are doing less, than if they leave it and move on to the next stitch.

Besides when you are learning something, like embroidery, it is sometimes helpful to go back and look at that first attempt, see how far you have come. I know painters do this, they discover things in an old piece that they may go back to because of an idea, a line or a clarity, they may have grown out of in time and may find useful later.

"Perfect Ideals" have no place and in fact become stifling and oppressive to creativity, in a classroom dedicated to teaching and learning an art of any kind.

I hear the phrase "But it's not Perfect" from my students, so often as they become disappointed in their own progress, as if they should have mastered this skill the minute they picked up the tools! It makes me want to cry and scream at the same time. 

Would you expect to be able to fix your sink, the first time you pick up a wrench? Of course not. Don't be silly. So why would you expect skill at needlepoint not be the same? 

I have a few ideas on that and it is a rant'n'rave  mumble, mumble puritan ethic/toxic patriarchy, for another time I think.

 I feel wholeheartedly in fact, that "Perfection" as a word, should be banned from our creative crafty places. Love yourself enough to give yourself that space and love your craft enough, that making mistakes, is placed where it should live, as part of the learning process and not as an aid to put it down or be disappointed in it, because it is not "Perfect".

*Thank you Sandy, for your lovely comment. I do appreciate it. I hope you do not feel ganged up on, that is not my intent. This Random thought parade has nothing to do with your sweet and kind words and everything to do with my own reaction to them.

Listen to this podcast which aired october 16 2021 with Patricia Nguyen of Thistle Threds in which they discuss much of what this post is about. Good to know I'm not the only one thinking about this AND I'm not the only one with projects all over the house! Listen to the whole thing, It's encouraging and insightful.

https://wetalkfiber.com/2021/10/16/fiber-talk-with-patricia-nguyen-ii/