As you can see from my website, I love creative hobbies. I have always wanted to learn pottery, but never really sought it out. Weird, right? Well, I finally signed up for a class to get my hands dirty and learn about world of pottery.

Walking up to the entrance door, I took a deep breath and said, “It’s either now or never”. Pottery, specifically wheel throwing, is known to be sort of challenging, and honestly, after reviewing some YouTube videos, I was apprehensive about it working for me. Nevertheless, I said,” I want to break my addiction to perfection and immerse myself in creative hobbies that force me to deal with it.

I know that sounds deep for just taking a pottery class, but I’m telling y’all for years perfectionism has crippled me and caused me to delay so many things. I’m over it, like forealz.

I also want to share that the Lord has been helping me navigate this space for the past few years. Learning to work through what looks ugly has proven the best exercise to turn my perfectionism on its head.

🗣️ Interaction moment 💬

If you have a moment, share which creative hobbies help you tackle perfectionism head-on ⬇ in the comments below ⬇

Alright, let’s get into how pottery is helping me break away from perfectionism after my first three weeks.

mess up and mess up again

From drips to messy hands, pottery is not for folks who always need to be pristine, and I’m learning to be okay with that. I noticed that my hands like to hold on to the clay with too much pressure, so yesterday I focused on lessening my grip and paying close attention to my movements. One mental note I told myself during week two was, “Keep throwing, don’t try to fix every inch of your creation because experience comes with time”. Sometimes you gotta keep “messing up” because growth comes from each mess up, even if it’s incremental. 

creative hobbies like Pottery aren’t meant to be easy, but it can be rewarding

During the first class, I’m not going to lie, I was like “I got this”, but after my second pot, I was like, “nah, this is going to be a journey”. Carving seems to be the hardest thing for me because there are a lot of mental steps you need to take and physical steps to center the bowl back on the wheel. So, right now, I love throwing more, but in time, I’ll learn to like the carving process.

You do control the clay, but leave room for happy accidents

Clay can be controlled, but it’s super sensitive. Since it carries the memory of each touch, it’s best to be intentional with your movements. With that, I think happy accidents are essential. For example, on the first day, I made a closed vase without really knowing what I was doing. Later, I realized I should’ve left it as it was because it could’ve been a lovely centerpiece for our dining table. I say all that to say, leave some room for the “hmmm” moments of life, you might just be on the brink of something great.

Edits are possible

I remember when my second clay structure began to weaken. A little bit of sadness came knocking at my heart, but after chatting with the instructor, he told me it could be fixed. After a few fixes on the wheel, I added a little spout to it, then I was satisfied. My goal during this pottery journey is to keep looking for ways to improvise in the moment and not allow sadness to attack when things aren’t perfect. 

I finished week three yesterday, so I have five more weeks to go until the class ends. I don’t have much knowledge about the craft yet, but I will be documenting my experience and sharing whatever small wins I have.

🥵 Sidenote: The studio is basically outside, so the humidity was trying to win, but that Amika Frizz me not still worked. I lost all my curls due to the high-velocity fans, but my silk press remained. Here’s the previous blog if you’re interested in keeping your hair from frizzing in the summer.

💭Bonus Thoughts💭

While writing this blog, I thought about how trying to be perfect has sucked for a while, but I’m happy to say that I’m working through it. No lie, exploring other creative hobbies really can help the struggling perfectionist.

Here are a few thoughts and quotes on perfectionism that dropped into my head. Let me know if anything resonates with you. 

“Perfectionism can stem from words people have spoken over you when your defenses were down”.

“Perfectionism can come from the need to prove others wrong”.

Until next time, whatever you do, keep livin’ with zeal!

-Danielle ✨