Letting go of the flawed invention of perfectionism
I have always self-identified as a perfectionist, since the day I learned of the word. It makes sense for me. I’m comfortable when things are perfect.
You’re always told not to say that your greatest flaw in an interview is that you’re a perfectionist, because it’s a bit of a cliché, and can be easily spun around into a positive ‘hire me!’ message. So I don’t say it, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
Just last week I had a friend send me a message saying ‘I don’t think life’s ever going to be perfect and I think I’m okay with that now’.
This was a really interesting message to receive from a friend who is several years older than I am, and certainly appears to have his life in order. If I had to pick someone who had a perfect life, it’s him. Yet he’s been thinking the same thing that I have been wondering about for years. Somehow this makes me feel even stronger in my beliefs on perfectionism.
My immediate response was of course questioning where this came from (it was so out of the blue!), but then I responded ‘I don’t think perfection exists anyway’. Yet it seems to be something that everyone is striving towards in this day and age. Let me explain my issue with this.
Say in 100 years time, or 1000 years, will human kind have come any closer to perfection? The word perfect itself means ‘having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.’ What could this possibly mean in terms of people? We all have the same hairstyle? Do we all work the same job? Perhaps genetic engineering may be required. How can society possibly function in this world, where there is one standard of perfection applied to all?
My absolute favourite quote is “imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it is better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” If I could improve the quote at all it would just be “imperfection is beauty”. I would shout it from the rooftops and pay for billboards, to show the message to anyone who is struggling with feeling in any way imperfect.
When you consider that perfection may lead people to converge into looking and acting one way, of course imperfection is beauty. That perceived imperfection is what differentiates one person from another, so of course it is beautiful.
So from now on, I’m going to cut myself some slack, and I suggest that you do too. Perfection is difficult to achieve, or maybe even impossible. To be honest, I’m not even sure perfection exists.
I’ll leave you with another quote:
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
Top 10 TV Shows
Anyone who knows me at all knows I’m a big TV fan. Like big. It’s a problem. Usually. But since we find ourselves in the uncharted waters of lockdown, I’ll share my knowledge, just this once.
So here is a list of my top 10 ‘watch before you return to work’ TV shows. They aren’t in order. Sorry.
This list is a little ‘medical drama’ heavy. I’m addicted.
House MD (Amazon Prime)
Educational 5/10
Feel Good 3/10
Drama 9/10
Based loosely off the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘House’ follows a drug addict diagnostician as he works to get to the bottom of medical cases nobody else can.
Actors I love: Hugh Laurie and Robert Sean Leonard as House and Wilson
White Collar (Netflix)
Educational 2/10
Feel Good 9/10
Drama 8/10
Funny 6/10
Neal Caffrey is a confidential informant to the FBI, solving cases by remembering how he committed similar crimes in the past. I love the relationship between Neal and his boss.
Actors I love: Matt Bomer as Neal Caffrey
Chernobyl (available paid on Amazon Prime)
Educational 6/10
Feel Good 1/10
Drama 8/10
Funny 0/10
My friends laugh at me for this one because I never shut up about it, but it is one of the best things I’ve ever watched. Accompanying podcast is also 10/10. Docudrama beginning 12 hours before the blast at Chernobyl power plant.
New Amsterdam (Amazon Prime)
Educational 3/10
Feel Good 8/10
Drama 7/10
Funny 2/10
Medical drama based in a public hospital in New York as doctor ‘Max Goodwin’ tries to turn the place around.
Grey’s anatomy (season 1-8) (Amazon Prime)
Educational 2/10
Feel Good 4/10
Drama 9/10
Funny 4/10
Don’t bother with anything past season 8, or at the very latest, 10. At 24 episodes per season, if you have the time on your hands, this is the show for you. Romance, drama, and some cool (if a little unrealistic) medicine make this show worth watching.
Actors I love: Patrick Dempsey and Sandra Oh as ‘McDreamy’ and Christina Yang
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix)
Educational 1/10
Feel Good 7/10
Drama 6/10
Funny 4/10
If you read and enjoyed Snicket’s books as a child, this Netflix original does them justice. So much better than its 2004 film adaption.
Actors I love: Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf
Gossip Girl (Netflix)
Educational 2/10
Feel Good 4/10
Drama 9/10
Funny 3/10
This is not a good show. But it is a good waste of time. Easy watching, ridiculous characters, and some sort of a mystery through its 6 seasons.
Bojack Horseman (Netflix)
Educational 1/10
Feel Good 5/10
Drama 7/10
Funny 6/10
I would really recommend this show to anyone. If you can get past the fact that it’s animated. BoJack Horseman is the washed-up star of a 1990s sitcom. The show follows his desperate attempts to return to fame over 6 seasons, and makes a commentary on celebrity culture throughout.
Actors I love: Aaron Paul as Todd
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Netflix)
Educational 1/10
Feel Good 8/10
Drama 6/10
Funny 7/10
I’m sure you already know, this show follows a team of detectives, headed by Captain Raymond Holt, in New York. Great, easy to watch comedy (and this is coming from someone who doesn’t enjoy comedy).
Person of Interest (Netflix)
Educational 3/10
Feel Good 7/10
Drama 8/10
Funny 5/10
Mysterious billionaire Harold finch designed an AI for the government to predict and identify people planning terrorist acts. He recruits John Reese to investigate and act on the information provided by the Machine.
Actors I love: Michael Emerson as Harold Finch
Luther (Netflix)
Educational 1/10
Feel Good 2/10
Drama 9/10
Funny 2/10
John Luther is a detective in the Serious Crime unit in London. I wouldn’t recommend watching some of the earlier seasons of this show at night, or on your own, but it’s all worth watching!
Actors I love: obviously Idris Elba as Luther
After life (Netflix)
Educational 1/10
Feel Good 6/10
Drama 5/10
Funny 7/10
After Life follows Tony, whose life is turned upside down after his wife dies from breast cancer. He contemplates suicide, but instead decides to live long enough to punish the world for his wife's death by saying and doing whatever he wants.
Scrubs (Amazon Prime)
Educational 1/10
Feel Good 9/10
Drama 5/10
Funny 7/10
JD is a medical intern at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital. If you’re looking for a wholesome, easy to watch comedy, this is one I keep coming back to.
Actors I love: John C. McGinley as Doctor Cox
If you’ve made it this far, you may have noticed there are more than 10 TV shows on this list. I have no self-control, sorry.
Honourable mentions if you have seen all of the above:
The IT Crowd (Netflix)
The Pharmacist (Netflix)
Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
Scorpion (Netflix)
The end of the f**king world (Netflix)
Dirty John (Netflix)
Sherlock (Netflix)
Breaking bad (Netflix)
Mindhunter (Netflix)
True Detective (Netflix)
I’d love if you could recommend me some TV you love in the comments below
Stay safe & Stay home
Chat later
Rebecca x