{"id":553,"date":"2007-10-11T10:45:04","date_gmt":"2007-10-11T10:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondblue\/2007\/10\/perfectionism-at-blogher-07-it.html"},"modified":"2007-10-11T10:45:04","modified_gmt":"2007-10-11T10:45:04","slug":"perfectionism-at-blogher-07-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/10\/perfectionism-at-blogher-07-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Perfectionism at BlogHer ’07: It Wasn’t Pretty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking of perfectionism<\/a>, I thought you’d appreciate this story from the BlogHer convention I attended back in July<\/a>.
\nAs I mentioned in an earlier post<\/a>, sometimes these events can bring out the insecure, pimply seventh-grader in me, the one the boys used to get to the prettier, more popular twin sister (not that I still have issues about that).
\nAfter I won a seat at the popular sisters\u2019 table<\/a>, I quizzed both of them about their blogs.
\n“So what do you blog about?” I asked the older sister, who looked a good seven years younger than me (without cosmetic surgery).
\n“I have three blogs,” she explained. “I blog for BlogHer<\/a>, I have my own blog<\/a>, and then I have one with my sister.”<\/a>
\nI look at her sister<\/a>, one seat over from me, to verify if this is actually true. The sister nodded.
\n“So then you must do that full time?” I asked.
\n“No I have a day job, so I do all the blogging at night.”
\nI panicked at hearing that. My inner demon yelled: “She\u2019s doing three or four times what you are in half the time. You\u2019re so lazy.”<\/p>\n


\n“So, I take it, you don\u2019t have kids.” Phew. At least I had that excuse.
\n“Actually, I have a little girl whose two and a half.”
\n“Okay,” I said, \u201clet me get this straight. You have a young daughter, a full time job, and write three different blogs? Plus [I squeezed her biceps \u2026 she was wearing a sundress], I can tell you work out…”
\n“Don’t forget about the book!” the younger sister piped in.
\n“You’re writing a book on top of all this?”
\nThe older sister nodded.
\n“Do you know what this means?” I asked her.
\nShe shook her head.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re on the psych-ward tract.”
\nThe younger sister spit out her Diet Coke.
\n\u201cSee!! She doesn\u2019t even know you and she can tell you\u2019re doing too much!\u201d
\nThen she looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. \u201cShe won\u2019t listen to me.\u201d
\nMy inner alarm was sounding throughout the whole conference because I felt like
\nlike a mentally-challenged Energizer bunny beating a stupid drum circling the floor of the exhibit hall saying, “Traffic \u2026. Traffic \u2026. Traffic \u2026. Traffic\u2026. Traffic\u2026. I must increase Traffic\u2026.. Traffic\u2026.Traffic \u2026. I must increase traffic.”
\nThat\u2019s what happens when OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) meets perfectionism<\/a>: the energizer bunny behaves as if he\u2019s eaten two cartons of diet pills loaded with caffeine and reveals a few of his personality flaws.
\nBut I do think I\u2019m making progress, because, at one point in the conference, my inner alarm sounded so loudly that I was sure that all the other bloggers heard it and were going to write about it. I was getting way too close to that brick wall or prison of perfectionism\u2014of believing that my self-worth should be based on my traffic numbers\u2014so I simply cut out of the workshop and sat on the Navy Pier listening to a really bad live band.
\nI thought back to the afternoon with Eric in Baltimore<\/a> and came to my senses. I told myself:<\/p>\n

Self, this is not that important, not in the big picture, which you obviously can\u2019t see with that blindfold on. Higher traffic numbers won\u2019t make you happy. Remember? You tried that once with books. Peace is found within you and with God and with meaningful relationships. Now stab that drugged bunny in the back and get back to the conference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking of perfectionism, I thought you’d appreciate this story from the BlogHer convention I attended back in July. As I mentioned in an earlier post, sometimes these events can bring out the insecure, pimply seventh-grader in me, the one the boys used to get to the prettier, more popular twin sister (not that I still…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mental-health"],"yoast_head":"\nPerfectionism at BlogHer '07: It Wasn't Pretty - Beyond Blue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondblue\/2007\/10\/perfectionism-at-blogher-07-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Perfectionism at BlogHer '07: It Wasn't Pretty - Beyond Blue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Speaking of perfectionism, I thought you’d appreciate this story from the BlogHer convention I attended back in July. 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