Hello world
After seven years of deliberation, here I am, writing the very first essay for my lifestyle brand, Locks Ness. It feels surreal. And fittingly, the thing I keep coming back to is perfectionism.
Many of us secretly treat perfectionism as a virtue, even though we know how many dreams it has quietly stalled. We learn this early. In college, we’re coached to tell hiring managers that perfectionism is our greatest weakness, with the subtext that it’s really a strength: proof of dedication and commitment, no matter the cost to ourselves. It’s no wonder we carry it with such dread, and still can’t seem to put it down.
For me, things shifted when I allowed myself to make mistakes. I stopped holding myself to impossible standards of doing things perfectly, correctly, or “right.” I began to see that all any of us can do is show up as who we are in this exact moment, with the understanding we have now, instead of waiting to become some “higher version” of ourselves at an unspecified point in the future.
The older I get, the more I realize I don’t always know best, and that has been the key to learning all along. It was a bit of a “duh” moment, honestly. I made it my life’s mission to be a lifelong learner, which means, by definition, that I don’t know everything. Not knowing isn’t a flaw in the plan. It is the plan.
So this is where I’m starting: embracing our enough-ness, moment to moment, rather than striving to become someone else. This first post is not perfect, and I’m releasing it anyway.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey of learning and experimenting, with the determination to build the life each of us truly desires.
