Interviews with The Nine Modern Day Muses

Spills the Imp: Muse of Practice, Process, and Imperfection

By Molly Anderson-Childers & Jill Badonsky

Summon Spills when you’re feeling the nit-picky urge to over-edit and obsess, or when the demons of perfectionism rear their ugly heads.

Often, while I’m working with fledgling writers and artists, a very common creative block I encounter is that they believe they’ll never get it just right; they’ll never do it perfectly, so why even try? This often stops them from doing anything at all — they reason that if you aren’t writing a word, you can’t fail. For those of you who just can’t seem to get started on a creative project because you’re afraid you’ll do it wrong, you’re in the right place!!! Strap in, readers — you’re in for a wild ride!

Q: What is Perfection paralysis? How do you help mortals break the chains and free themselves to love the process of creating, rather than merely focusing on the finished product?

A: Perfection paralysis is NOT FUN! It's also not being able to move at all creatively because there is worry about: 1) not being good enough; 2) not having everything in place or knowing everything there is to know about something before beginning, 3) not knowing how to translate an idea into reality; 4) wasting time and resources on something that may not go anywhere; 5) fears about what people will think, and a bunch of other inconvenient fears that would take up a lot of space.

To break the chains, Mortals can DECIDE to attach the qualities of joy, mirth, lightness, and mischievousness to the creative process. In doing so, the process will become enjoyable and transformative, healing and enticing. All mortals have that power, but many either don't know it, or don't practice using it. A creative process filled with joy, curiosity, and fun leads to the best results — and even if it doesn't, the process in and of itself is a reward. Mortals can continually ask themselves the question: What would make this process more enjoyable for me?

Q: When in need of your messy, accidental and imperfect brand of inspiration, how can mortals call upon you?

A: Just by starting something, with the intention of being IN the process without a care INITIALLY for how things look, sound, or are received by others. Let it be imperfect, messy, absurd, and insignificant. At the very beginning, the creative process requires lowered expectations, spiked with fun, in very tiny increments of time, in fractions of steps. It's a Muse-law, and will work every time to set in motion a glorious process flowing with joy. The single most invincible secret in helping mortals get out of paralysis that comes from perfectionism is: Lower your expectations. There is an epidemic right now in the creative pool of consciousness called Unrealistic Expectations That Seem Realistic but Aren't Really in The Get-Things-Done Scheme of Things. Notice when you lower expectations that you actually GET STARTED versus avoid your creative passion. Finishing something requires: GETTING STARTED.

Continue to Spills Interview page 2 »