draft #2: a letter from the editor

To my fans...

To my 10 Substack readers & subscribers,

I know what you’re thinking. How can you drop the most insightful, well thought-out Substack about overcoming perfectionism, leave us at the edge of our seats on where you’ll take this next… and then just go silent…for two weeks?

Look, I hear you.

I wasn’t expecting this either.

In my mind, launching this Substack meant I had beaten perfectionism. That after two decades of over analyzing, over thinking, and over criticizing every single thing, this one public forum would be enough to heal me.

Now, wouldn’t that have been perfect?

But no, that’s not how this went. Instead, I’ve spent the last two weeks stressing over my second draft. Writing it, deleting it, editing it, rewriting it, and putting it into ChatGPT with the prompt, “how do I make this the best article of all time?”

And that, my friends, is the irony: a perfectionist launching an anti-perfectionist Substack, only to get immediate writer’s block because she couldn’t get the post “perfect” enough.

The very thing that I had started for me, soon turned into a performance for you. It became about proving I was clever enough, creative enough, worth your time.

Though what I realized is that perfectionism is just “approval” in sheep’s clothing. It tempts you with the promise of being liked and spared from criticism, but ultimately leaves you saying nothing at all.

So, as your editor, I’m going to try this again. Except this time, instead of trying to show up perfectly, I’m just going to try to show up.

From here on out, you have my word: every post will be posted with edits pending.

xoxo,

your editor who still needs some work