Everything right now
And other hang-ups
We decorated for Christmas yesterday, which is the absolute earliest I have ever gotten into the spirit. The boys are thrilled because we actually hung a bunch of cat toys on the tree- didn’t realize! Thought they were baubles!
I decided to let Santa into my heart a few weeks early after I realized that I had a Rule about not observing Christmas until December. I don’t know where that rule came from, and I hate it when rules sneak in through a side door and plant their feet and put their hands on their hips, uninvited!
Some more uninvited guests that I’m giving the heave-ho this holiday season are hang-ups. Specifically, the three hang-ups that get in my way when I’m trying to improve or develop a skill.
They are as follows:
Everything right now
Perfectionism
Information hoarding & acquisition
The first one, the Everything Right Now hang-up, is a hallmark for the ADHD-addled among us. Is it the same for people who don’t have ADHD? Please write back if you’re out there.
The problem is this: if I can’t consume every piece of literature on a subject simultaneously, absorbing all perspectives at once, why bother? I want to be able to submerge myself in the matter at hand and let it seep into my pores. Flipping pages of a book one by one will absolutely not do.
Perfectionism is a classic. I thought I wasn’t a perfectionist for most of my life. “Nothing I create is good enough, how could I be a perfectionist?”. Haha, fool.
Information hoarding is a tricky one, and I’m curious if this resonates with anyone. It’s not so much about hoarding resources so that other people won’t get them, it’s more like…bookmarking dozens of tabs that you’ll never return to. It’s this insatiable hunger for resources, as if the desire to learn and grow will be sated by a certain number of books on the shelf or free online courses downloaded or podcasts saved. As if the acquisition of lists of the 10 foremost books to read on a subject is the same as reading even a page or two of one of those books.
As a hang-up blasting, counter-perfectionism measure, I’ve decided to release a few songs this year for my birthday. Call it exposure therapy. Mo has this awesome 4-track Tascam Portastudio that I’ve been playing around with, so they’re going to be lo-fi tape demos. I’m excited! And scared :) Writing this is my accountability tactic.
I hope you are keeping well and not feeling too November about it all.