Who am I? I am a Perfectionist.

per·fec·tion·ism  /pər ˈfɛk ʃə ˌnɪz əm/

noun

1. any of various doctrines holding that religious, moral, social, or political perfection is attainable.

2. a personal standard, attitude, or philosophy that demands perfection and rejects anything less.

You know those people who are super anal retentive and make you want to scream because nothing is ever 'just right?'

I'm one of those people.

Oh, you may not see it, and you may think that can't be true; I mean, please, the girl is in an area of study where perfection is literally impossible, she's messy, lazy, she can barely keep her GPA above 2.5...

Where is this 'perfection?'

I am a Perfectionist in that I will play the piano until my hands bleed so I can get that one section sounding anywhere close to what the composer might have wanted.

I am a Perfectionist in that if I cannot take complete notes in a class, I will stop taking notes altogether because I believe in the possibility of impossibility.

I am a Perfectionist in that I will try this spice and that spice and maybe one or two more before I decide to write down a recipe in my notebook.

I am a Perfectionist in that I will erase and rewrite and erase and rewrite and then grab an entirely new sheet of paper so it looks like I didn't have to try at all.

I am a Perfectionist in that I will not let myself have any sort of fun until I am certain I can do nothing more to make my work the best it can be.

And yes, I fall short.  I make mistakes.  I am lazy sometimes, and no matter how often I clean my room, it always looks like a tornado spun through it the next day.

And I beat myself up for that.

But I keep moving forward.  I still strive for perfection.

Because I am a Perfectionist.

Cheers.