Robert Genn on Perfectionism

"It is from the regret left by the imperfect work that the next one can be born." ~Odilon Redon
"Where you stumble, there lies your treasure." ~Joseph Campbell
"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without." ~Confucius
"Regularity, order and the desire for perfection destroy art. Irregularity is the basis of all art." ~Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Esoterica: If you're a perfectionist, you're actually in good company. Leonardo da Vinci was never happy with anything. Haunted by feelings of parental abandonment, he became the Patron Saint of Procrastinators. His was a condition I call "idealistic perfectionism." Just knowing he could do it was enough. Thinking he could make it better kept him fiddling. I still don't feel he got Mona Lisa's smile exactly right, do you? Maybe it was better before.