Recognizing the Limits of Perfectionism – Part One

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Writing about perfectionism feels tricky. On the one hand, I feel like there’s always more to learn about perfectionism and what it looks like in our every day lives. On the other hand, recognizing my own perfectionism doesn’t always solve the problems perfectionism creates, which feels like an endless cycle of discovering problems I can’t solve.

But in that endless pursuit of getting to know myself, I want to share something I learned the other day, that may be able to help you, too. It might seem counterintuitive, but my perfectionism has actually hurt my problem-solving skills and my ability to think critically. Here’s how I became aware of it, and how I’d like to change.

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Learning More About Myself

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This week, I’ve done a lot of reflection about where I am on my mental health journey. Part of that was inspired by my recent post about how anyone can benefit from therapy – I reflected on my own journey in therapy and how that has affected my day-to-day life. And even though I reflect often about the growth and change I’ve experienced over the years, I’ve reached a few conclusions about what it means for a person to learn more about themselves. I always thought learning more about myself would be interesting and insightful – maybe even fun, to be honest! But I was wrong, and it’s helped me grow in some major ways.

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Why Anyone Can Benefit From Therapy

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Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with therapy. This space has provided so many good, beautiful moments for me over the years, and even when I learn something that isn’t always so positive about myself, I’m grateful for the space that’s been created to process and feel. But, as someone who has seen a number of therapists over the past decade, it can also be extremely frustrating to try and find that space, or create it for yourself. In my opinion the benefits usually outweigh the cost, but the point I want to make today is that anyone – yes, anyone – can benefit from therapy. Here’s why.

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Finding the Rhythm of Life

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When I watch movies, there’s a specific type of scene that always makes me jealous. Before we see our characters go off on their adventure, we sometimes see a morning routine montage – a quick-cutting, crisp shot-by-shot look at how these people get going in the morning. Maybe it’s because we know their world is about to change or because of the way it sets the scene, but that peek into a character’s life is such a great way to get to know our heroes of this story. But on occasion, it also makes me wonder – why can’t my days have more of that sort of rhythm?

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Taking Pressure Off My Coping Techniques

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Over the years, I’ve added many coping techniques and strategies to my mental health toolkit. While these techniques have provided a lot of support on my mental health journey, they’ve also created some problems. I realized I was putting too much pressure on my coping techniques, and that’s what I want to share today.

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We All Deserve Nice Things

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Today’s post might be short, but that’s because the message is simple. Over the weekend, I checked off one of the biggest things currently on my bucket list – I saw my favorite musical on Broadway. And even though it still makes me uneasy to gush on this blog about things I love (here’s hoping I can get more comfortable with that!), I want to share some thoughts about what came to mind when I’d realized I’d done something that made me incredibly happy.

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Spring Is Here! Kind Of. Maybe?

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As I write this, I am looking out the window to another 50-degree, so-so winter day. But I don’t care because to me, March means one big positive for my mental health – the no-good, rotten, very bad days of winter are almost at an end. And even though spring isn’t “officially” here yet (at least not according to the calendars I looked up), I’m an early adopter of spring because of what it represents and what it can mean for our mental health.

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Breaking Old Habits and Building New Ones

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After writing my post earlier this week, my mind drifted to the topic of habits. If I’m being honest, I was never too interested in forming and practicing habits. I understand their value and how they can help people improve their lives – what I didn’t like was the attitude I created toward my habits, especially in the past two years. Almost every habit I’ve created since March 2020 has been to cope with the pandemic, and it’s evolved into a mix of good habits and (mostly, in my opinion) bad ones. So how can I undo this change and reset?

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When Bad Habits Hide in Plain Sight

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When it comes to marking moments and memories in my life, I tend to reflect whenever a significant marker comes around. I think about what the world was like in that moment being marked and how I fit into that specific moment. Sometimes I pick and choose what to reflect on, which is what happened last week. Though I haven’t quite sat with the March 2022 of it all (yes, that’s two years of pandemic for us in the States), I’ve come to realize that in those past two years, I’ve created many habits. While some of them have been positive, I’ve also developed negative habits as a result of the pandemic that have increased my anxiety and fear. With the massive way the world has changed in recent years, how can we make sure our habits help us and not hurt us?

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The Value of Taking Baby Steps Toward Mental Wellness

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One of the most exciting things I’ve experienced was watching my niece learn to walk. It didn’t happen overnight; there was a long time of her getting comfortable at different stages of scooting, standing and moving, but one day it all came together, and she hasn’t stopped moving since. I thought about her today because it made me realize just how important those little steps are – a fitting metaphor for dealing with mental health challenges.

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