It’s a good thing that philosophy has been a lifelong interest of mine and that I intend to be an administrator of, as well as a contributor to, the Living Philosophy Wiki for the rest of my life. I could easily write just a little bit of philosophy in the wiki almost every day, until the end of my days. Even if I ended up being the only person who ever contributed anything to it, it would still end up being a big online book. If not for that thought, and if not for reading an article in the Guardian about the 1% rule, I might be feeling a little bit discouraged, right about now. Nobody besides me has yet created or edited any content in the wiki. Of course, I’ve only announced it in two places – here in this blog and in one forum to which I belong. It’s only about a week old.

A Native American forum to which I belong, called Traveling the Traditional Red Road, posted something yesterday that was, well, perfect for me to read at that time. It was about perfectionism. I had been feeling slightly down about living the dream, without life living up to the dream, after starting the wiki. I’m not happy with its skin. I’m not happy with the other available skins I’ve tried. I don’t like its logo. (It reminds me of a seventies hippy living room.) I’m not happy with its navigation. Everything about it needs a lot more work. I was having doubts about starting it so quickly, without having put more work into it up front. Therefore, when I read the following wise words about perfectionism, I found it easier to live with the state of imperfection that the wiki is and always will be in, by definition, since it is an open content work in progress, by its very nature.

“We have the need to be accepted and to be loved by others, but we cannot accept and love ourselves. The more self-love we have, the less we will experience self-abuse. Self-abuse comes from self-rejection, and self-rejection comes from having an image of what it means to be perfect and never measuring up to that ideal. Our image of perfection is the reason we reject ourselves the way we are, and why we don’t accept others the way they are.”

– Don Miguel Ruiz

“The maxim ‘Nothing but perfection’ may be spelled ‘Paralysis.’”

– Winston Churchill

“After enough mirror gazing, we all develop our ‘cosmic sense of humor.’ We no longer try to be perfect, or try to get all our work done in time. We become content with whatever life brings. Just to deal with what comes up without crucifying ourselves or others is enough of a challenge.”

– Paul Ferrini

“Good enough never is.”

– Debbi Fields