About this episode

This episode explores the concept of pursuing imperfection in creativity and how it can lead to personal growth and artistic freedom.

What if instead of pursuing perfection, we did the complete opposite—and pursued imperfection instead? In this episode, I share what happened when I got stuck in creative fear and decided to try something counterintuitive: deliberately making bad art, chasing mistakes, and embracing the mess. I explore the philosophy of wabi-sabi, why our flaws show our humanity, and how deliberate imperfection can unlock creative flow. In this episode: Why perfectionism keeps creative people paralyzed at the blank page The sketchbook experiment: filling a notebook in 10 days without second-guessing How music exists because of silence (and what that teaches us about creativity) Making a zine with a typo on the front page, and why that's actually ok Why imperfection is a superpower in an AI-generated world Finding poetry in everyday moments and messy parenting Practical experiments to try: making bad art, poetry watching, and chasing imperfection The question I'm left with: What would you make if you had permission to get it wrong? I'd love to hear your thoughts on pursuing imperfection, reach out on Instagram, TikTok, or in the Spotify Q&A. Get a copy of the pursuit of imperfection zine here…

People in this episode

Host: Lucie Lincoln

Topics covered

• creativity
• imperfection
• wabi-sabi
• art
• self-improvement
• philosophy

Keywords

• imperfection
• creativity
• wabi-sabi
• art
• self-improvement
• philosophy
• mistakes
• creative flow

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Art & Fear, The Japanese Philosophy that makes better photographers, Poetry Watching

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