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The Ugly Truth About Human Flaws, Fears, and Insecurities
“Human beings are beautifully flawed beings, to demand perfection from what is inherently imperfect is insanity” — Unknown
Who among us hasn’t driven themselves insane trying to uphold an impossible standard of flawlessness? My latest experience with this comes with my application for the University of Southern California’s MFA screenwriting program.
During my application process last year, I noticed something troubling: fear of failure was paralyzing me. The paralysis permeated into other areas of my life. My fear caused me to fall prey to insecurities about my competency; in turn, I was sapped of energy, motivation, and confidence.
I took note of this and vowed to never let it happen again. On the surface, this was an appealing sentiment, but deep down, it was disfigured. As I’ve prepared my application to USC again, I’ve found myself rotted by the same sense of paralysis. Once again, a misconception about the necessity of perfection precipitated an incline of pressure, which caused a decline in productivity in other areas of my life.
“What about the vow you made to yourself last year? You’re falling into the same trap, did you even learn anything, dummy?” I asked myself.