"Remember that in order to recover as an artist,
you must be willing to be a BAD artist."

"Give yourself permission to be a beginner."

I had meant to blog about my reactions to this part of my chapter, but forgot until I was bloghopping and came to the blog of another AWer who had mentioned it. 

I was so releived to read that... which is illogical, but hey, whatever.  Anyway... sometimes I feel like anything I start creatively must be instantaneously perfect.  I can't start out writing a paragraph, I must start with an epic novel.  I can't draw a stick person, I must draw an anal-retentively detailed sketch of a full-life scene.  I can't crochet a simple potholder, or knit an easy scarf, I must design a masterpiece. So it's nice to realize that the creative things I try to have to start out perfect.  It's okay to do childish projects, write a story (or a blog post) that doesn't make perfect sense, and misspell words, just cause you can! LOL  

That takes off SOOOOO much pressure... that obsessive need for perfection... the constant desire to prove that it's "good enough" to meet a certain set of standards.  It gives me the freedom to experiment, to try new things, to be creative just because I can, without having to WORK so hard at it... cause isn't creativity supposed to be fun???