The Joy of Imperfection

03.26.11
As you can see, I've been fiddling with this blog (now that I can officially call this a blog) for some time now. It started off as my personal food photo journal, for my eyes only. I shared it with a few friends a few months ago and they pushed me to make it public so they could follow my journey...but I wasn't ready. Some of the pictures stood alone, without a caption. Other entries were jotted in note form and the grammatical errors were an eyesore. I was waiting to be inspired, waiting for the time to sit down and make it perfect. I subscribe to several food blogs, all of which only added to my insecurities. Some of the blogs are by professional photographers/writers/chefs. Others are amateurs like myself.

I was talking to someone last week about the things I do for the sheer joy, as opposed to what I do because it's what I'm trained in. She asked me if I blogged. I had a couple of blogs set up, but the idea of making them public made me nervous. When I started them, they were just journals, a place for my thoughts and pictures. It was just for me. Once in a while I would show a picture to a friend and the idea of sharing my blog would come up, but I still resisted.

What was I waiting for, she asked. The student in me, the lawyer in me has trouble exhibiting anything before it is ready, before it is as close to perfect as I can get it. Afterall, I wouldn't submit an essay to my professor until I had revised draft after draft, staying up night after night. Nor would I now submit a legal brief before countless tedious revisions.

But this was different. This was fun, for the sheer joy of it. There was a pause in the conversation. "Venu, don't wait for it to be perfect. Just make it live." I promised to do this by the following Saturday, one week later. I had given myself several deadlines in the past, all of which have come and gone, but now I made myself accountable to someone else. Sometimes, all it takes is a little push.