The Art of Imperfection

By Damodar Roe

Creativity is Necessary

Contrary to popular opinion, creativity has a lot of practical value—even outside the world of art. Tackling big projects means adapting to unexpected challenges with fresh ideas. Whether running a business or caring for a family, creativity allows you to meet people’s needs in thoughtful and effective ways. While many associate creativity only with artistic expression, its true power lies in problem-solving—a skill that’s essential to everyday life.

You might say you’re not a creative person. But what if in your own way, you actually are? What if your creative abilities have just been stifled by certain experiences in your life? You might have been the kid who was punished for drawing. Because of this kind of influence, many people suppress their creative sparks just to fit in and survive. Or maybe you were taught that creativity is not important. Whatever it might be, without some interference, creativity is a natural part of being human.

The biggest impediment to creativity is being insecure about imperfections. You start with inspiring, big ideas. But at some point, you face the reality that you don’t have the ideal setup, you might make mistakes along the way, and you don’t know if it will all work out in the end. You stare at a blank page trying to write one profound sentence after another, but then you erase the whole thing when it’s not perfect. The project remains simply an idea you hope to do “one day”, when you’re sure it will come out the way you expect.

Unfortunately, so many of us feel insecure with our creative abilities. We’ve been trained for decades that every problem has only one “right answer”, which we have to learn it from an authority. This instinct makes us more afraid of being wrong than curious and enthusiastic to learn. It stifles the creative process, like a fire without oxygen. Even as adults, the fear of being “wrong” can make us overly dependent on rigid authority systems, as well as the wish avoid facing the complexities of life directly. But even when you follow an authority, you still have to choose which one. Therefore, you can’t escape the responsibility of making your own choices. And you need creativity to make wise choices and navigate the world successfully.

Write Drunk, Edit Sober

Learning how to be creative is a kind of therapy for the recovering perfectionist, and we can learn from the examples of great masters. Leonardo da Vinci, for example, knew how to pursue an endless array of curiosities, and at the same time, finish a project once he’d started it. His creative process had a place for both rough experimentation and refined excellence. He applied himself to all sorts of mediums, from painting, to architecture, to engineering. And he embraced the risk of being seen as a failure or a lunatic while pursuing innovative ideas like the flying machine. Although his attempts to make a flying machine all failed, his masterful leaps into the unknown secured his reputation as one of history’s most brilliant people.

We can hardly presume to fill the shoes of someone like Leonardo da Vinci. But you can still have a creative renaissance in your own life by following the same principles that made him and other great masters successful. And since creativity is essential for any endeavor in life that requires problem-solving, optimizing your creative process can unlock new possibilities in all areas of your life. And what if despite what your inner critic says, you actually can sing, draw, sculpt, paint, and write—or at least learn how?

To unlock your creative potential, you need to learn a couple things. First, you need to delay your need for perfection; to understand that it’s not supposed to arrive on the first attempt. That’s where the practice of iteration comes in handy, where you approach your creative projects in distinct phases with corresponding attitudes and expectations. Secondly, every project calls for a certain kind of creativity. Writing a good story, for example, depends on different rules than designing a car.

Ernest Hemmingway encapsulated the iterative approach when he said, ‘Write Drunk, Edit Sober’. First, you drunkenly dance with the chaos of brainstorming and experimentation, creating a wealth of inspiration and ideas. Then, in a sober and grounded state, you refine and polish those ideas into something remarkable. Now, let’s learn how great masters like da Vinci were able to resolve all the many challenges of creativity through their timeless creative processes, so you can solve problems in your own life and innovate like a master.

Defining Perfectionism over Time

Perfectionism isn’t just about producing meticulous, high-quality work—it’s about being pushed to impossible standards by anxiety over other peoples’ perceptions of you. The desire to look good makes us adopt popular images of success and compete to be the best according to those standards. Of course, throughout history, people’s ideas of success have changed. And therefore, the way people have expressed their perfectionism has changed, too. But the core psychology of perfectionism has always remained the same: whatever other people are trying to be—whether it’s smart, tough, or humble—you try to be the best at those things, worrying that any flaws will expose your inadequacy. Perfectionism, in other words, is a form of excellence that has been constrained by conformity and pressured by competition. The inner hope is to figure out the perfect formula to for popularity.

During the Medieval period, a time marked by poverty, disease, and warfare, people were hungry for stability. They looked to the Church to provide hard, unquestionable answers to life’s biggest questions. The social hierarchy of clergy, royals, merchants, and peasants made everyone’s position clear and fixed. Faith and social hierarchy provided some certainty in a turbulent world, but also came with a kind of rigidity. The only purpose of art and science were to reaffirm the status quo. Standing out or questioning authority could mean losing your reputation or even your life. The pursuit of “perfection” in that time meant conforming rigidly to religious and social expectations, ensuring your survival by not rocking the boat.

Then came the Renaissance—a period of intellectual and artistic transformation. Thinkers like Copernicus and Galileo challenged traditional doctrines, seeking truth through objective means like reason, mathematics, and direct observation of nature. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo expressed profound beauty and emotion in their work, but their artistry was grounded in the hard sciences. Through meticulous study of anatomy, geometry, and nature, they achieved an unprecedented level of realism, proving that science and art were not opposites but complementary forces that deepened human understanding and expression. People began to assume greater creative freedom, following their own inspirations and seeking truth not through popular approval, but through direct observation of nature. They drew inspiration from the world around them and the great works of previous masters, especially those from Ancient Greece and Rome, defying the threat being ostracized for thought crimes. This wasn’t a blind rejection of the past, but rather, a re-imagining of the human story with a more inclusive spirit of inquiry.

But even in this era of creativity and discovery, perfectionism persisted—only now, it took on a new form. While artists of the past were anonymous workers who simply crafted traditional images and myths, the Renaissance introduced a new culture where artists could make a name for themselves, fueling intense competition for prestige and patronage. Once Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, two of the era’s greatest minds, were pitted against each other when the chief magistrate of Florence commissioned them to paint massive battle scenes on opposite walls of the town hall. This rivalry pushed them to new heights of artistic innovation, but it also reflected the growing pressure to prove one’s individual superiority. It wasn’t just about personal mastery, but standing out and achieving a level of perfection that would secure lasting fame. Despite overturning the centuries-long belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun, people were still influenced by the same insecurities as Medieval times.

Fast forward to Modern Times, and we live in a much different society. Most countries have moved away from rigid social hierarchies and state religions. Art and science are no longer inextricable like they were during the Renaissance. But while the popular culture has changed, and images of success have shifted to new platforms, perfectionism has kept its stronghold in the same psychological domain. Whether it’s securing likes on your profile or maintaining a pristine resume, perfectionism continues to thrive as it always has on fear of rejection.

Whether we’re talking about the Medieval period, the Renaissance, or today, the ideal to strive for is a blend of apparent opposites—knowledge and curiosity, tradition and innovation, structure and flexibility. We benefit so much from education. But somehow, we emerge with more knowledge and less curiosity—more skills, but less comfort with making mistakes. Too much concern about seeming perfect keeps you playing small, suppressing your creativity in favor of predictability, and imitating established standards without taking risks. You conform, compete, and hide your humanness behind a mask of stereotyped images of success. Tragically, in an attempt to make things perfect, you eliminate any personal touch that says something about you. You end up trying to become someone you’re not, and lose touch with authentic parts of yourself that could open the door to real growth and connection.

Leonardo da Vinci, on the other hand, had both technical mastery and childlike curiosity. He blended these qualities to push the boundaries of what was possible, uniting disciplined study with an insatiable thirst for discovery. He didn’t just paint; he studied human anatomy. He didn’t just sketch his ideas for inventions; he charted how all the parts would work together. His curiosity led him to dissect cadavers to understand anatomy, sketch the flight of birds to envision flying machines, and explore the inner workings of water to design innovative hydraulic systems. This harmonious blend of expertise and wonder allowed him to see connections that others missed and create works that were both technically groundbreaking and deeply imaginative. Da Vinci’s legacy teaches us that mastery thrives when both knowledge and curiosity fuels it, unrestricted by the fear of failure or judgment.

Your own creative Renaissance begins when you dare to step outside the need for control, certainty, and validation within closed-minded circles. It doesn’t require reinventing the wheel or blindly rebelling against the establishment, but embracing responsibility for your own decisions. When you confront problems that don’t fit neatly into your current beliefs or knowledge, you’re forced to get creative. You experiment without getting lost, and do meticulous work without worrying what people think. In that sense, the true artist is neither a rebel nor a conformist, but a pragmatist who uses whatever tools will work, blending old ideas with new ones to match the task at hand.

The Renaisance of your creative process

When it comes to creativity and problem-solving, the greatest obstacles are fear, cynicism, and self-doubt. Fear tells you not to attempt anything new. Cynicism dismisses creativity as something lavish and unproductive. Self-doubt convinces you that you’re not capable being creative. Together, these forces form a negative attitude which kills creativity before it ever sprouts. This attitude becomes particularly entrenched when perfectionism takes over, masquerading as a desire for excellence but secretly fueling self-criticism and sabotaging your efforts. It convinces you to question your worth and ability, whispering thoughts like:

“I know I won’t be the best, so why even bother?”
“Even if people praise my work, they’re just being polite.”
“Who am I kidding? Everyone can see I’m a fraud.”

Thoughts like these make you think you can expect the impossible from yourself, predict the future, and read other peoples’ minds. The purpose of these thoughts is not to describe reality, but to scare you into holding back. It’s like a set of dark sunglasses. After wearing them long enough, you forget that reality isn’t actually as dark as it seems. Rather, you take it for granted that success is truly all-or-nothing, that everyone is just waiting for you to fail, and you have to appear perfect to prevent this. Taking these thoughts too seriously interrupts your workflow and results in a lot of overprocessed fragments rather than completed a draft that you can improve on over time. But once you remove these dark beliefs, like sunglasses, the world is brighter than it seemed, and you’re actually capable of far more than you ever imagined.

Leonardo da Vinci said that “The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions.” He recognized how self-limiting, fearful beliefs get in the way of your creative potential. The bottom line is that you can achieve more by taking chances. But it’s only possible by putting a lot of effort into a project, and at the same time, not knowing how it will turn out or what people will think. You have to accept these self-doubts, resistance, and discomfort as part of the journey, and something to be expected from the daily grind that will gradually lead you to success. Whether you’re planning a military operation or planning a party, your first ideas will never be perfectly developed, refined, and polished. Quite the opposite. The challenge is to embrace the process even when you’re afraid that your inner critic might be right.

The following principles will help you:

Draw inspiration from nature and tradition
Embrace vulnerability
Stay grounded in the present moment
Just keep moving

Creativity thrives when you allow yourself to draw inspiration from the world around you, and that includes not just nature but also the ideas, struggles, and triumphs of other people. Just as Leonardo da Vinci studied everything from botany to the human heart to fuel his innovative designs, you can broaden your perspective by observing how the world works and how others solve problems. The universe we live in is the ultimate artist, creating the vast cosmos with all the known species, including human beings and all their inventions. Nature’s movements, like the curve of a wave or the branches of a tree, remind us that creation is rarely linear—it’s an iterative process that builds on itself. Similarly, studying the creative processes of others can help you see that mistakes and setbacks are not signs of failure but essential steps in making something extraordinary. Just like da Vinci spent countless hours studying birds in flight and imaging inventions based on the same principles, you can also let your ideas soar. You can draw inspiration from the movements of nature and other people, as imperfect as they all are, and let your ideas to evolve organically.

Ask yourself:

What is a process of nature, either perceivable, atomic, or universal, that can inspire or inform the work I do?
Who are some past or present masters who can inspire or inform the work I do?

Creativity is a vulnerable process. Once you venture outside the limitations of convention, there’s always the risk of over-committing to an idea that’s unrealistic or unpopular. Even when you’re doing the work you love, it’s not possible to succeed at a high level without the process becoming unpleasant sometimes. But to realize your highest capabilities, you have to accept the vulnerability and mental burn that come with the job. You have to work with those feelings and persevere even after the honeymoon phase wears off. You have to place yourself in over your head. You have to attack a project that is bigger than you, without knowing how you’re going to beat it. You have to show up for the moments when you can’t tell whether you’re drowning in the ocean or wrestling with a giant. You have to dive in and refuse to tap out. Instead of resisting discomfort and uncertainty, you have to see them as territory that must be covered before you can create something beautiful and put your name on it.

When you’re in the middle of an overwhelming project, there will be moments when you get paralyzed by anxiety and self-doubt. You’ll find yourself thinking about just how much work lies ahead, and unsure how to do it all. But this doesn’t have to stop you. By grounding yourself in the present moment, rather than worrying about the future, it’s easier to just keep taking the next step. As long as you have a rough literary for the journey, you can immerse yourself in strategic entry points of the project without getting lost or ahead of yourself. After all, creativity unravels best when you’re not too worried about the outcome. Let the process evolve like the generations of a family, where you invest yourself in the process and let the project evolve organically from one iteration to next. The most important thing is to keep the ball rolling, and don’t stop for quality control until you’ve finished a complete draft. If you can’t think of the specific lyrics for your song, just hum the melody for now, and write the lyrics later. If you’re stuck on one part, focus on another part. Trust the process, and don’t assume that your anxiety means something is wrong. Just keep moving.

The way you do one thing is the way you do everything

What’s your process of problem-solving? Whether you’re planning your day or designing a building, you might notice a pattern in how you approach all sorts of endeavors. For example, your automatic instinct might be to plan everything first and delay action until the plan is perfect. The overarching pattern in how you face problems in your life is called your meta process. It’s an automatic instinct you have that manifests over and over again. For this reason, the way you do one thing is the way you do everything.

Great innovators like Leonardo da Vinci also had their own meta process. Whether he was inventing a rapid fire crossbow or painting the smile of the Mona Lisa, Leonardo tackled the every project in a strategic order. He knew that there’s a time to plan and a time to take action, as well as a time to research and a time to innovate. In order to apply the approach that’s appropriate for the moment, you need to suspend your automatic instincts, and adopt a meta process that helps you apply the right mindset and approach at the right time. This way, you will avoid the many pitfalls of a one-sided approach to problem-solving. You won’t act like a planner when action is needed. You won’t try to reinvent the wheel when research would be better. Rather, you will employ your strategies and tactics masterfully and do great work.

The phrase, “Write drunk, edit sober” is attributed to Ernest Hemmingway. While it might sound ridiculous, he wasn’t advocating for literal drunkenness. Rather, he was acknowledging that when you’re writing, or doing anything creative, there’s a mindset for creating content and another for refining it. In fact, these mindsets are opposites in many ways.

You can apply this meta process to just about anything you want to do. The follow are some examples:

Travel the world: Dream up all the places you’d love to see, activities you’d like to try, and cultures you’d like to explore. Don’t worry about feasibility or perfection yet; just allow yourself to expand your horizons and get inspired by documentaries, travel blogs, or even daydreams. Think big-picture: what kind of experience do you want? Adventure? Relaxation? Cultural immersion? Then, when you transition to the sober phase, refine these ideas into a practical plan. Look critically at your options—what fits your budget, timeline, and priorities? Cut out destinations or activities that don’t align with your goals, and map out a detailed, realistic itinerary. Balance planning with flexibility by leaving room for spontaneity, so you’re ready to seize unexpected opportunities along the way. This approach avoids the pitfalls of aimlessly wandering or rigid over-planning, allowing you to experience the thrill of discovery while still making the most of your time and resources.

Find your beliefs: Immerse yourself in diverse traditions, ideas, and experiences—read widely, explore practices like meditation or journaling, and ask big, open-ended questions about the purpose of your existence. Let your thoughts and feelings flow freely, embracing contradictions and messiness without trying to make sense of everything at once. Then, step back to evaluate what resonates most deeply with your values and goals. Refine your insights, cutting away ideas or practices that feel inauthentic while organizing the ones that truly matter into a coherent framework. This balanced approach allows you to build a philosophy that’s both dynamic and grounded—expansive enough to grow with you yet structured enough to guide your everyday life.

Many people since the time of Leonardo da Vinci have been inspired by his creative process. Here are a couple examples:

Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome, exemplified the fusion of science and design to serve humanity. His domes, composed of interlocking triangles, evenly distributed stress to create structures that were both exceptionally strong and remarkably lightweight. Centuries earlier, Leonardo da Vinci had studied the strength of arches, and Fuller extended these principles into three dimensions. Inspired by nature, he analyzed how basic geometric shapes like triangles, circles, and squares evolved into complex, efficient structures such as honeycombs, carbon molecules, soap bubbles, and fractals in crystals and trees. These natural designs taught him how to maximize strength and size while minimizing weight and material use—an approach he called "doing more with less." Fuller applied mathematical precision and engineering principles to adapt these insights into sustainable architecture, drawing detailed plans for optimal structures that could address global needs like housing and resource conservation. By collaborating with architects, builders, and manufacturers, Fuller ensured that his visionary designs were not just theoretical but functional, real-world solutions, aimed at improving the quality of life for as many people as possible.

Salvador Dalí was an eccentric painter known for making the familiar into something surreal. He often made philosophical statements with his dreamlike imagery of seemingly unrelated things. For example, in a painting of a slave market, he positioned the figures in such a way as to outline the face of the philosopher Voltaire. The painting is a statement that Voltaire’s one-sided emphasis on rationalism and materialism were mere slavery of the mind. Like Leonardo, Dalí believed strongly in blending observation with imagination, and incorporating multiple fields of study into his work. But unlike Fuller, his observations were less about the objective world around him, and more about the subjective world of the mind and perception. Dalí also had his own iterative process, called the Paranoic-Critical Method, where he would disassociate from his own mind while observing paintings and other visual objects, and then use his visions as raw material to organize later, using the rational part of his mind. In other words, his works are not entirely random. They actually carry both philosophical depth and visual intrigue because he fully invested both sides of his brain into his work. His legacy reshaped modern art, challenging our conventional assumptions and pushing our imaginations beyond the rational.

Take it one step at a time

Switching between creative modes can be mentally taxing, because you’re trying to opposite tasks at the same time. It’s like mentally zooming in and out repeatedly, which can make you feel dizzy and disoriented. It creates friction when you’re trying to reach certainty before you’ve had time to explore your options, and therefore it feels artificial. Trying to brainstorm and troubleshoot at the same time is discouraging because one mental process requires expansion while the other one requires contraction. When you find yourself trying to move in opposite directions at the same time, figure out which direction is needed right now before you continue to the next phase. You can always do both mental processes, provided you give each one its own space to fully express itself.

Creativity is not a linear, step-by-step, mechanical process. Sometimes the phases overlap, and sometimes you need to transition back and forth. But when everything gets mixed up, don’t worry. Even the iterative process doesn’t have to be perfect. Messiness is also part of the creative journey. Just stay grounded and focus on the work in front of you. Even if you can’t do these different processes at different times, you can also do them on separate materials or in separate areas. The important thing is that you cultivate the meta process of a master, and approach big projects in distinct phases with corresponding mindsets—opening up possibilities first before committing to action.

open up As Many options as pOSSIBLE

The initial phase of creativity is when you open up as many options as possible for bringing your vision or purpose to life. Whether it’s an idea, perspective, or emotion you want to express, there are so many different avenues of expression to explore — from poetry, to music, to art, and so on. Even after you narrow down to one medium, there are still so many styles and approaches. The trick is to focus on your purpose, and then come up with an abundance of potential pathways to fulfill that vision without worrying too much about immediate perfection or how you might be perceived. It’s about letting go of rigid expectations and preconceptions and allowing yourself to fully engage with the project in the present moment.

Leonardo was passionate about brainstorming and experimentation. We’re all familiar with his masterpieces. But have you seen his messy notebooks? This is where he explored the initial phase of his creative process, where he filled pages with sketches, questions, and notes. He didn’t pressure himself for perfection at this stage, but just expressed the gist of things. At the same time, he always had some purpose in mind for his research. He might be obsessively drawing pictures of the birds, but it was for the purpose of painting the wings on an angel in one of his paintings. Even while exploring, he stayed focused on his creative purposse by asking himself imaginative questions like:

How can I design bellows that are powered by the movement of a person marching?
How can a city be mapped as if seen from directly above at every point?
How I can I create a machine with perpetual motion?
How can I create a self-supporting bridge?
What are the anatomical mechanics of a smile, and how can I capture its subtleties in art?

Write down as many open-ended questions as you can think of that are related to the vision or purpose you have in mind. The goal of these questions is to activate your mind to the contemplation of the task at hand. When your mind is engaged with interesting questions, your mind will come to life and produce a flow of creative ideas. For example, even when Leonardo wrote to-do lists for himself, they were full of imagination. He would include mundane chores, but also imaginative questions to ask people or observe in nature. The point was that he knew how to keep his mind engaged with his activities. Like Leonardo’s notebooks, keep a journal or sketchbook to capture all your ideas. Let your curiosity and imagination flow freely, as you channel your thoughts towards your creative goal. Inspiration might strike you not just when you’re focused, but also at odd hours, so you need a place to write these ideas down before you forget them.

Next, research how other people have approached the same questions, and the various perspectives, methodologies, and solutions that they have developed. This can provide valuable insights and inspire new angles you might not have considered. When you study the art of masters like Leonardo da Vinci, or the writings of authors like Friedrich Nietzche (more about him later), you will start to notice elements and qualities of their work that inspire you. It might be da Vinci’s curiosity or Nietzche’s intellectual boldness, but as you engage with a wide range of influences, you’ll fuse aspects from different sources, blending them in ways that suit your own taste. This fusion is where true originality emerges—not from inventing something entirely new, but from recombining existing ideas in fresh, new ways.

As you continue to contemplate great questions, some of these ideas you come up with will be unrealistic, but there will also be some that are worth pursuing. Just let your creativity flow into many drafts, doodles, and notes. Rather than trying to capture them in a neat, linear fashion, use a visual framework to organize the information into a big picture. You do this with a mind map, chart, or other diagram. You don’t even have to use all the ideas or drafts you come up with. And that’s okay. The more ideas you can come up with and explore, the more likely you will find the best match for your purpose or vision. Just like painter collects colors on their palette before painting a portrait, make a collection of ideas you can draw from later in your work. The goal is to generate more content than you will actually use, and begin to find a rough organization for your vision of the project.

Leonardo da Vinci filled page after page with drawings and notes. This is because his creative process always began with the observation of nature, and drawing was his way of putting the practice of observation into a tangible activity that engaged not only his eyes, but also his mind and hand. In other words, drawing was thinking for Leonardo da Vinci. It was how he watched the mysteries of the cosmos and figured out how things work. He wanted to discover how the world works so that he could harness that understanding to create new inventions, paint stunning images, and even take flight for the first time in human history. Even though he didn’t succeed at flying, he created the momentum that led to the Wright brothers reaching this milestone just a few centuries later. Studying nature was how Leonardo intuitively realized the fact that sometimes light can move in circular motions like water, an intuition that was later proven by Einstein’s theory of relativity. This theory clarified the cosmic law that governs both water and light, which Leonardo demonstrated an intuitive awareness of in his drawings. These examples alone are proof how the intuitive side of the mind is incredibly powerful for even scientific or rational epiphanies.

Only some of Leonardo’s sketches and notes graduated into the next phase of his creative process. But the abundance of inspiration in his initial studies ensured that the ideas he did pursue on a more formal level were the best. Similarly, you can bring your creative process back to life by clearing some space for yourself to experiment and explore. A place where you focus more on questions than answers. A place where your ideas can walk around drunk and naked without anyone there to judge them. A place that no one else has to see but you. A place where your imagination can truly soar into images and ideas. Don’t make the mistake of skipping this phase by committing to the first idea you have. First take the time to ask questions, research, contemplate, and explore.

A Window for perfection

So far, you’ve read about delaying the need for perfection, but that doesn’t mean that your work should remain messy and experimental forever. There’s a special window of time when you’re supposed to edit, refine, and complete the project, and this requires meticulousness. At the same time, you have to be careful not to overedit. The questions, therefore, is: what constitutes “overediting”? How do you know where to draw the line and strike this fine balance? Let’s look at an artist who was too wild for his own good and compare him with Leonardo da Vinci.

Jim Morrison, the frontman of The Doors, was an icon of mystery and charisma. One moment he would be slowly hypnotizing the audience closer and closer to complete silence. He would keep them waiting in great anticipation for what would come next, only for him to burp. Then suddenly, the next moment he would be yelling violently, “We want the world, and we want it… NOW!” The riveting performance was so seductive, it made many people wonder how he was so fearless in breaking conventional rules. Many people wished they could be as confident as he was.

Morrison’s unconventional behavior didn’t stop offstage though. The free spirit also lost himself in reckless behavior and substance abuse. Without the discipline to ground his creative energy, Morrison was caught in a downward spiral. At just 27, he died in a Paris apartment, leaving behind a legacy that continues today, but could have been so much more. The music was over.

The life of Jim Morrison warns us about the danger of blurring the line between music and madness. While Leonardo da Vinci was able to balance both order and chaos in his creative process, Jim lit a fire that fueled his creativity but also consumed him along with it. Both men absorbed themselves in their creative work, but this crucial difference allowed Leonardo to live until age 67, giving him an additional 40 years of creativity compared to Jim. Even if you don’t go as crazy as Jim Morrison, when you constantly jump from one project to another without completing anything, or when you have no clear sense of purpose or direction, creativity becomes a distraction rather than a path to fulfillment. It can lead to depression, poverty, and even self-destruction.

The perfectionist needs to embrace the open and expansive nature of the initial phase of creativity. But the sober phase of creativity requires a shift in mindset that calls for the opposite approach—a return to critical thinking. For example, Leonardo could have easily gone mad if he had simply studied nature without any purpose. But instead, he used these observations to inspire him with new ideas for inventions. The major difference between perfectionism and sober editing is the goal of excellence, rather than avoiding judgement. Lastly, it’s about more than just polishing the details endlessly, but a commitment to transforming raw inspiration into a finished form, and releasing it out into the world.

Select the most promising ideas or drafts from your experimentation phase. Once the overall framework is clear, you will have a place to put all the constituent elements. Use the rough draft to guide your work. Draw dark lines over well-placed light ones, replace tentative elements with selected ones, and fit lyrics into the melody of the chorus. Begin to refine the details by repeatedly going over them from different perspectives, incorporating feedback, and always looking for opportunities for improvement. Do the best work you can. Make sure to complete your project with a high standard of craftsmanship, love, and devotion. Put your heart into it. By focusing on quality and making sure to finish what you start, you’ll transform your initial ideas into well-developed, impactful work.

Emotional Overwhelm

Feelings of anxiety and overwhelm during the editing phase often come from the emotional investment you’ve poured into the project. It’s like performing a much-needed surgery on someone you love. The intensity of your emotions is a testament to how much you care. Instead of resisting this emotional weight, or escaping with distractions and procrastination, let these feelings ground you into an earnest and determined mood. Just like addicts need to accept their difficult emotions before they can get sober, you need to accept unpleasant parts of the creative process, and continue taking action in a sincere mood, so you can channel heavy emotions into positive momentum. This is the deeper meaning of “edit sober.”

Retaining Authenticity

One of the biggest challenges of editing is eliminating flaws without also erasing your own voice. Especially for a perfectionist, a personal touch feels more vulnerable than an outright error. Fear of judgment can make you overedit to sterilize the project of any sign you made it. The first question to ask is whether the project is a way to express yourself, or whether it’s meant to benefit other people. Either way, the best foundation is to know your art—whether it’s singing, storytelling, sales, or whatever. Next, if it’s a matter of self-expression, then it’s more important to stay centered than to worry what people think. For example, when you’re singing, too much concern what other people will think can make you sing tensely. This affects the quality of your voice, and ironically, contributes to the effect you were trying to avoid. If the project is for the benefit of other people, it’s important to put your heart into delivering results as best you can.

Grief and Self-Doubt

There is a unique type of grief that comes from finishing a project. It is something like the heartbreak of letting your kids go after almost twenty years of seeing them every day. The work that has occupied your thoughts, shaped your routine, and carried a piece of your identity is suddenly finished, and with that completion comes a sense of loss. It’s the end of a chapter, but also the beginning of a new one. Embrace the bittersweet feeling and be grateful for the journey that brought you here, knowing that it has prepared you for the opportunity that is coming next.

It’s time to put your work out there in the world. This is an essential step that will consummate your project. It can also come with the fear of being exposed. You might worry that people who know better than you will realize that you’re just a fraud or an amateur. There’s always a temptation to assume that the sinking feeling in your stomach is proof you’re making a mistake. But all it really means is that you’re stepping outside your comfort zone. It’s a natural feeling that comes from vulnerability, and it doesn’t mean you’re unprepared; it means you’re growing as a person. So don’t hold back. Put your best work out there for other people to see.

Merge the Apollonian and Dionysian

The phrase, “Write drunk, edit sober” happens to fit nicely with a framework that was used by Friedrich Nietzsche. In his book The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche explains that there were two Greek gods of creativity:

Dionysus, the creative god of intoxication, chaos, emotion, and instinct
Apollo, the creative god of sobriety, order, reason, and discipline

These two gods represent opposite approaches to creativity. They’re meant to cooperate and be balanced, as we see in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci. Friedrich Nietzsche, however, lamented that this delicate balance was disrupted in ancient Greece after the rise of Socratic thought. Socrates championed reason above all, insisting that human decisions and beliefs only had value if they could be rationally explained and defended. While this emphasis on logic and critical thinking contributed immensely to philosophy and science, Nietzsche believed it ruined the world of art and creativity.

This rationalist approach infiltrated Greek drama, which had once embodied a harmonious blend of the Dionysian and Apollonian forces. Earlier tragedies, like those of Aeschylus and Sophocles, wove together emotional intensity, existential chaos, and intellectual structure. They invited audiences to confront the mysteries and contradictions of life without reducing them to neat explanations. However, under Socratic influence, art began to prioritize moral lessons and logical clarity over emotional resonance and aesthetic depth. Writers and creators felt pressured to impose rational explanations onto their works, neglecting the instinctual, visceral, and chaotic elements that made earlier art so relatable.

Nietzsche’s lament over the loss of balance in Greek drama serves as a timeless warning: when creativity is dominated by Apollonian logic and discipline, it loses its soul. In a similar way, the modern culture of perfectionism suppresses the Dionysian side of creativity. In the pursuit of perfection, we fear the chaos of failure, vulnerability, and unfinished ideas—the very qualities that fuel Dionysian inspiration. As a result, our creativity becomes very flat, boring, and stripped of its raw vitality. That’s why you need to make sure you create space for the wild side of creativity. Dionysian creativity allows your mind to create intuitive connections that will enrich the depth of your thought on any given subject. You will begin to see things in a new light. Embrace this experience as an opportunity for growth and learning. Follow your gut feeling into the darkness of the unknown, with the trust that you might emerge with something of valuable for your project.

For your own creative process, ask yourself: Are you more Dionysian, like Salvador Dalí, thriving on delirium and imagination? Or are you more Apollonian, like Buckminster Fuller, who was rooted in altruism and knowledge? More importantly, consider what your current project—or the particular phase you’re working on—demands! The consummate problem-solver is able to adapt his approach to meet the needs of the moment, embracing the chaos of Dionysus when you need to generate ideas and channeling Apollo’s discipline when it’s time to polish and complete them. By merging these two energies, you can achieve high levels of creativity—just as Leonardo da Vinci did centuries ago.

Conclusion: Pick Up Your Guitar

In a world that celebrates perfection and productivity, it’s easy to neglect creative pursuits like learning a new language, picking up an instrument, or writing a book. We get caught up in the notion that if something doesn’t have an immediate payoff, it’s not worth our time. Even if you have creative inclinations, they often fall by the wayside, buried under more “practical obligations.”

But we’re not satisfied working hard for someone else’s profit or power. We’re bored with doing things the same way, especially when they don’t work! We need to learn how to be creative individuals so we can form a vision of the future and pursue it with passion and perseverance. Even if it’s imperfect, doing your best work is a spiritual practice that allows you to solve problems and take charge over the direction of your own life. That’s why overcoming perfectionism and reviving your creativity is often called art therapy. Through creative expression, you tap into parts of yourself that have been suppressed by fear and the pressure to conform, as you show what you’re truly capable of. You break the mold and start fresh.

Take inspiration from great minds like Leonardo da Vinci, who pursued both art and science with a vengeance. He wasn’t afraid to make mistakes, to go back and try again, or to refine his ideas over time. He understood that true mastery is born from an iterative process, and knowing the right time to be meticulous and the right time to be experimental. By following in his footsteps, you can do amazing things. Whether you’ve dreaming of painting, writing, playing an instrument, or even learning to dance, now is the time to start. Pick up that dusty guitar, open the notebook you abandoned months ago, or try speaking a new language with friends. Don’t wait for the perfect time—just start now. Your creative renaissance begins today, as you embrace the journey of creativity, and turn raw ideas into works of lasting significance.

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