Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

As an actor, I work in a field where I was taught for many years to believe that if I work hard, memorize every note, and sing everything perfectly I will book the job. Years later, working hard is a main part of it all, but the strive for perfection has only slowed me down. What has gotten me success is remaining true to myself and living in the moment instead.

Playing sports in junior high and high school, did make me competitive and what continued to fuel that was Country, District, and Regional Choirs placements in high school (I’m a stickler for singing the exact notes on the page).

I’ve noticed this idea of perfection has bled into my everyday life. For Christmas, I received a really cool masterclass to make pots for my plants out of clay. I loved drawing, painting, making jewelry, and stained glass when I was in school, but pottery was never my jam because I never had the patience. After many attempts of trying to make this pinch pot, I had to walk away because it didn’t look like the one in the video, it wasn’t perfect. When I came back to it the next day, I realized my pot was beautiful because I did it! It’s still a new plant home and I made it with my bare hands. There was even extra clay, so I made an extra tiny pot freehand.

Work hard towards your goals, but congratulate yourself along the way with tiny victories. No one is perfect, nor should they have to be.