Meaning behind the name "imPerfect Justine".

You may be wondering... why "imPerfect Justine"? Out of all the names a person could call their DIY/art blog why would you pick something so... odd? For those curious individuals, here are your answers:

Firstly, you should know that I'm an overthinking, people-pleasing perfectionist in recovery. I fully disclose that the name imPerfect Justine is foremost to remind myself that our "imperfections" are what make us "perfect". The word "imperfect" can easily be broken apart to instead say "I'm perfect" which encompasses the meaning that our imperfections are also perfect. At least, this is how I see it. We are all perfectly imperfect and should not allow what we perceive to be imperfections to stand in the way of what we want to do and where we want to go. I am actively working to continue to shift my focus and embody the ideas I write about as I create these posts and design my art projects.

It also occurred to me, while I was tossing around the idea of actually starting a blog, that I didn't want to be like other blogs that seem so experienced and well, perfect in their project executions. Having said that, I am truly so happy for them and the confidence, knowledge and experience they bring to their worlds. Go DIYers! Anyways... I knew I didn't want to come at it from the "professional artist angle" or the expertise angle. In reality I don't consider myself an expert in any area of my life, including myself! It, quite simply, just seemed more realistic to acknowledge the imperfections in what I create and the messy learning process that comes along with trying something new. I wanted to be real.

The more I thought about this, I realized how often, with our current technology and editing capabilities, we often just see the end product. We see a video compilation of 1-5 minutes that in really took a few hours, a day or even weeks to write the script, shoot the video and edit out all the “imperfections”. In other words, the journey is completely removed and the final product is marketed as the only version. Generally speaking (this is not true of everyone) we remove or cover up the parts of our creations that make us human and relatable to others which tends to create a sense of separation and even idol-like tendencies.

The bottom line is: there’s no success without failure and failure is a matter of how you perceive it. It takes “imperfection" to achieve “perfection”. Things don’t just pop into existence, there’s a messy creation process.  This matters to me because as a past subscriber to "fear of failure" (fear of imperfections) it’s difficult for me to try new things because I tend to perceive the flaws in the finished product as making the whole thing worthless. I’m getting much better at altering my view of the creation process and seeing the imperfections as part of what makes the end result perfect. I figured if I feel this way, there are probably others that do, too, so let's be friends!

Do have something you've been wanting to make, or a piece of art that you've been wanting to create? If you need a little push to get out there and do it, sometimes all it takes is to see someone else's messy journey, so stick around and you might just get the push you're waiting for.

Enjoy your journey!

iP Justine