Be Brave, Not Perfect

Hello and Welcome to over 250 new subscribers of Overconsumed!

This is officially becoming a little creative community. I’m here for it, and I truly appreciate you all...

Many of you joined from Threads after I posted about “Wabi-sabi.” So I figured I’d stay on this (non-existent) topic of: perfection.

One of my favorite mantras/mottos I've started using recently: "Brave, not Perfect." 

I first heard it in a Mel Robbins podcast interview with Reshma Saujani, author of a book by the same name. I could go into great detail about how/why this concept works so well for creatives (especially today with artificiality) but Reshma does it better.

Plus, the saying speaks for itself…

INSTEAD, HERE’S A BRAVE, IMPERFECT EXAMPLE:

(Note: I’m a millennial who worked in TV so I use a lot of pop culture references...)

Love it or hate it: the reason “South Park” has been able to cut through the noise and deliver culturally-relevant, culturally-defining comedy for 25 years is because of exactly these two things: Big, bold, creative bravery and totally accepting imperfection. 

The weird (and brilliant) part about it? It is self-imposed.

Trey Parker & Matt Stone, the creators/directors/writers/performers of "South Park," give themselves an extremely short timeline every single week of the season. (Check out the documentary "6 Days to Air: the Making of South Park" if you haven't seen it).

Parker & Stone are two knuckle-head best friends who have developed their own creative tricks and devices over the years; they have a short-hand and rely on each other to tell them what's funny and what's not. They don't have a lot of rules...

But what they do have? A deadline.

Therefore no episode can be perfect, there's literally not enough time. Instead, they focus on taking bigger swings, and look at the big, global picture. They prefer to be timely and irreverent vs. overly-curated, protective, and perhaps even outdated.**

How else would we have such classics as "Mecha-Streisand" or Kanye’s "Gay Fish?"

**Lowkey: This is also why I started a newsletter instead of a book. I'm afraid by the time I'd be done writing, it will all be old news. Keep me honest here, people!

Sometimes, creativity needs restrictions and limitations, even if it's self-imposed. If anything, that creates more ways to be brave and imperfect in the first place…

MAKE & MOVE ON

Trey Parker & Matt Stone don't love every episode of “South Park.”

In fact, they end up hating the episode they make in the documentary (it's quite interesting as a creative to watch their devastation unfold behind-the-scenes).

But then, they turn the page and move on…

It's another episode. Another season. Another creative endeavor.

Do they get discouraged? No. Do they get burnt out? No.

In fact, they have gone on to create other TV shows, movies, Broadway musicals and opened up a restaurant (for which they have won all types of awards and accolades).

Would they say ALL of their work is BRAVE? Absolutely.

Would they say ANY of their work is PERFECT? Absolutely not.