[smiles awkwardly and looks away quickly]

That came up quick.

So there’s a bit of a problem…

It isn’t that I can’t think up anything good to write about for My First Official Blog Post.

Nooooooooo.

That’s never the problem!

The problem is … I can think of WAY TOO MANY things to write about. So they all float round and round inside of my head duking it out to see who will win the title of The Perfect Thing For My First Official Blog Post.

Something that sounds like The Perfect Thing on one day gets discarded the next. Or three really great ideas soar to the top of the list. And each one thankfully–finally!–seems like The Perfect Thing.

Until it doesn’t.

Meanwhile, I sit here. Deciding and then un-deciding on what exactly I’m going to write about today.

I do this in other areas of my life as well. (Maybe you do too?)

There’s the pile of laundry I need to fold. Also the dishwasher that needs to be emptied. And I should probably go grocery shopping today if we want to eat dinner tonight. But what should I do first?

That’s easy! Sit on the sofa and scroll through Instagram. (Sound familiar?)

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I also do this with my art. Should I try out the new watercolor crayons I got for Christmas? No! Use the paint that smells good! Wait! What about those cool images I cut out and saved to use in a future collage? So many good choices!

And let’s not even get started talking about all of the projects around the house that are waiting to get started now that the holidays are over.

It turns out there’s actually a name for this.

Too Many Ideas Syndrome

I’m not sure if Too Many Ideas Syndrome is an actual medical diagnosis or simply a Google diagnosis, but it sounds cool–and it sounds just like me. There are a lot of great strategies online for dealing with Too Many Ideas Syndrome, but I think the best one is also the simplest.

Just pick one and get started.

Just. Pick. One.

Seriously, it’s that simple. … So why isn’t it easy to do?

The Perfect Thing

I get so hung up on choosing The Perfect Thing that sometimes I don’t choose anything. Sure, it’s a nice little way to avoid making a mistake, but really it just paralyzes me from actually doing the things I want to do –even amazing things I’ve been looking forward to doing, like writing this first blog post.

I am learning that there is no Perfect Thing.

Life is just a bunch of things and lots of them seem interesting (or in the case of chores, none of them do!) I probably won’t have time to do them all. But I’ll never get to do any of them if all I do is go round and round about which one to do first.

I don’t intend to swim around in that sea of mental chaos anymore.

Books (Are Always The Perfect Thing!)

I am currently reading a book that has given me the gentle kick-in-the-butt I needed to get off the merry-go-round of deciding and undeciding — and the clarity to start doing.

Creativity Unleashed by Amber Kuileimailani Bonnici is a beautiful book full of encouragement and practical exercises for creative women who actually want to bring their projects to life. The book has lots of space for note-taking and doodling with a cover you can color however you like. She actually WANTS you to write in her book and mark it all up, which felt weird at first but now I’m all into it!

Amber’s advice is simple:

Just choose. It really doesn’t matter. You can go back and do that other thing after you’ve wrapped this one up. There is no right one. The fate of the world doesn’t depend on this. You are held by something much bigger. Trust and choose.

Amber Kuileimailani Bonnici, Creativity Unleashed

The fate of the world doesn’t depend on this. The fate of this blog doesn’t either. There’s another quote that I love so much, I wrote it across the front of my new 2023 day planner. (Because I’m Old School and still prefer a paper planner over an electronic calendar!)

This is from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, another book I really like.

Here it is in typing in case you can’t read my handwriting!

Your great work is on the other side of your early work. The only way to be exceptional later on is to have the courage to be “just okay” right now. This is how it is for everyone.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits

There’s something about that quote that gives me so much comfort. It’s okay to be “just okay”. And I believe it does take courage to simply be “okay” in a culture that prizes perfection (or at the very least extreme excellence!) in every thing you do.

Everything you do in life doesn’t have to be spectacular, especially when you are starting something new. What is important is that you show up. And keep showing up.

This is how it is for everyone. I hope this quote brings you comfort too — and the courage to show up fully in your own life this new year. And keep showing up. This is new territory for some of us, but it is worth exploring.

Show Up. And Keep Showing Up

That’s what creative geniuses like Charles Dickens and Prince did. In a new book called Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius, author Nick Hornby finds a lot of connections between the two seemingly unalike artists.

Here’s an interview with the author on NPR that you might find interesting.

Both Dickens and Prince produced a lot — like really a lot, A LOT– of work. But they didn’t get too hung up on making things perfect. Prince recorded a song and moved on to the next one. And the next and the next. Dickens did the same with his writing, often working on two books at the same time without a lot of editing. They showed up. And kept showing up. Nobody remembers Dickens or Prince as “just okay”. 🙂

Even exceptional people like Prince and Dickens had to start somewhere. The magic happened when they kept going.

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