Damn You, Perfectionism

It has been quite a while since I have sent an email, and I am realizing that I was letting perfectionism get in the way. I received some lovely feedback and reflections on my more recent newsletters, which felt so affirming! Then, as I was thinking about what I wanted to share in upcoming newsletters I felt myself collapsing into the idea that they all had to be AWESOME in order to go out. As you can probably imagine, that didn’t feel good.

For me, when I start to pull into perfectionism, I feel a tightening through the front of my chest. The tightening retreats backward and downward through my body towards my stomach. Sometimes I don’t notice my body response until it is louder, more like lack of hunger and difficulty digesting food. How does your body communicate when you are responding to life with a perfectionist pattern?

So, I decided that I am going to write and send this email even if it doesn’t feel fully ready, or the “best”. I am wanting to send emails. I am wanting to share my words. I have been feeling energized and excited about writing and sharing my thoughts about the awesomeness of our bodies, the ways our bodies communicate, and the ways I see the medical system not holding for our bodies and humxnity. I am going to hold more space to write. I am going to work on getting more newsletters out to you. I have added this blog section to my website.

I am also working on some other exciting offerings. One of these offerings is “You Are the Expert On Your Body: A Support Kit To Help You Retain Access To Agency in Medical Settings”. It is free, and my hope is for this kit to be shared widely.