This post is part of a project to get over my fear of imperfection by posting a photo and an imperfect 1,500+ word story every day for 100 days in a row.
The 100 Day Project
This time of year I start to get reflective and think about what changes I should be making in my life. I’m almost always trying to improve my life- but this is the time of year that I tend to get reflective. I make grand plans and goals. Start new projects. Determine that this will be the year I finally figure out how to adult before everyone discovers I have no idea what I’m doing.
It seems to be a blend of the change in the seasons and going back to school coinciding with my birthday at the end of September.
Analysis paralysis and imposter syndrome come with the territory of being a writer- and I’ve got an extra dose of ADHD on top of it. But lately I’ve gotten so “in my head” about pretty much every thought or piece of writing that I’ve hit a crisis of never “crossing the finish line” showing up in multiple parts of my life. I have dozens of half-finished, or mostly finished, drafts of so many things- but I just can’t seem to do the final edit and push publish. I should probably work the “whys” of that out with a therapist… but until then I’ve decided to start a project to work on being “imperfect but consistent.”
I’m fairly consistent when it comes to journaling on a daily basis 1 so I’ve decided to use that time to work on being imperfect, but consistent.
How? I’m going to publish 1,500 words a day for 100 days.
In an effort to not think too deeply about what to write, I’m going to choose a photo from my google photos and tell a story about it../ and then hit publish. Every day. If I miss a day then the 100 days starts over. I’m trying to keep in mind that the goal is to hit publish- not wait until a magical fairy shows up and pronounces the piece perfect before I share it.2
I’m not sure if this is the smartest approach- but I’m viewing it as a “jump in the deep end and just keep swimming” sort of situation. Of course, as I write this I’m already analyzing how dumb this is. 😜 I also see the inherent conflict between the “imperfection” portion and the “publish daily or start over” portion. I’m choosing to ignore that conflict for the moment.3
If this sounds like something you need or want to do then feel free to join me, I’d love to read your stories!
Or just read along and cheer for me. That is also acceptable.
