Perfectly Imperfect: The Reckoning of 2020
By: Joanna Myles
Tags: Change, Wisdom, Imperfection, 2020, Pandemic

Photo by iMattSmart on Unsplash

My offering to you today is to give yourself permission to be perfectly imperfect.

This post was going to be about practical support with bullet points and suggestions. But as I pondered last night, I felt a pull to send out a different message today.

This post is directly from my heart.

For so many of us this year, perfection and predictability and pursuing goals have radically changed, if not been thrown out of the window altogether. We’ve pivoted, juggled, re-prioritized, and adjusted a thousand times, and we’re having to do it again this week (another lock-down here in England).

It’s okay to be doing it all imperfectly, making the best of bad situations.

In fact, I believe that getting more comfortable with imperfection and trusting ourselves mid-juggle might be a gift of 2020.

We can’t pretend perfection exists anymore. We can’t pretend to have it all figured out because none of us have it all figured out.

Instead, we can be in the process, an active, ongoing process of understanding ourselves and trusting ourselves, no matter what’s going on around us.

You cannot run the perfect business. You cannot expect yourself to anticipate everything or be prepared for every outcome.

Instead, you can believe in your own abilities. You can discover what works for you and build on it. You can practice kindness and determination. Yes, both when things don’t go as planned.

My creative dreams are evolving.

Perhaps it’s going through the current 2 year-round of cancer maintenance treatment. Perhaps it’s living through a pandemic. Perhaps it’s something about the way the stars are aligning. But this year I’ve been thinking a lot about the dream I had for my creative practice back in 2017 and 2018, when I completely changed creative direction started this journey I’m on right now as an artist and writer.

And what I’m seeing is that my creative dreams and goals are evolving. It’s hard to look back at that time when nothing really felt possible when I wasn't sure if I could make things work. For context, I’d closed a bigger business down that I founded, loved, and had run for 10 years, received a blood cancer diagnosis, and at the same time had a nervous breakdown. My confidence in my creative capabilities was shot to bits and I was very very sad.

I love my deeper wisdom now: that I know what really matters, like integrity is more important than turnover to me, and how I spend my time directly relates to my happiness.

I also love my understanding of how I want to support not only my buyers and readers but also a wider community and society. I’m called to act against racial injustice, for protecting and healing the environment, for human rights. I want to build a creative practice that does all those things.

And I want to build it in a way that allows me to love my family, care for our children* and care for myself & the love of my life Jason.

The great reckoning

I think 2020 (and perhaps 2021) is a big reckoning for all of us. And as we come into this busy time of year, perhaps you’re reflecting on it too. (And if you’re not, that’s okay.)

My offering to you today is to give yourself permission to be perfectly imperfect. To let go of the expectation that you should be smashing it. To decide instead to learn to trust yourself, to ask for help, to discover what works for you.

Your job right now is to build strong foundations through the busy Christmas period.

And if you need support with the great reckoning, or even with your to-do list for today, just ask for it.

*Blended family here of 7 kids, a dog, 3 cats & 4 chickens. Very happy, never boring!