Hi there, my name is Saeah.
I started The Imperfectionist in 2013 while living in South Korea. I was born there and moved to the United States when I was six. While living there as an adult, I saw my childhood unfold in the lives of dozens of children I met. It put a magnifying glass on my personal traits. Beauty is achieved, often through plastic surgery, and not embraced. The amount of pressure children feel over a test is sometimes equivalent to someone being held at gunpoint. Failure isn’t optional. The response to shame is sometimes suicide. Perfection is expected in everything. Enjoyment and happiness equal guilt.
This awareness grew with my own dissatisfaction at my hundred hour work weeks, terrible interpersonal relationships, and growing anxiety. Then a stress related injury in my late 20s created another period of self-questioning. The Imperfectionist grew from there. At first, the site was a reflection of my own conditioning. What are my goals? What meticulous planning and over-tasking can I do to achieve as much external validation as possible? How many subscribers can I get? And over the years, I’ve cycled from working on it like a maniac to pretending like it doesn’t exist. And looking back, the periods of progress on the site were never sustainable because I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I’ve learned that much of what I thought was important for the site doesn’t really matter, and now, the entire focus of the website is my own intrinsic growth.
The Imperfectionist is a very personal project. I’m happiest when I’m learning and when I’m building things. The Imperfectionist is simply a place for me to digest and share the things I’ve learned, so I can revisit it in the future. It’s my personal toolbox for creative and personal growth. My greatest hope is that one or two of you will find it useful in your own life.
Some of the things that I think and write about:
The meaning of success and fulfillment
Why we follow roadmaps we were taught and what we do when the high-paying job, a big house and a nice car collides with our desire for fulfillment and happiness
Look at history, the literary greats, the philosophers of the past and present for ways to live a more meaningful life
Seemingly nonconformist and the unorthodox ways for fulfillment and happiness
Living for what I need instead of what I want
Ways to move towards uncertainty
Thinking of failures not as mistakes but as opportunities for growth
Not allowing fears of the unknown to keep me from living my life fully as possible.
Unlearning and relearning
Finding balance
2 Comments
Good stuff, love the new layout.
beacause of The Imperfectionist I learn to choose love over fear. I was also able to overcome my weakness . I learn to use my weaknesses as an armor and sword to face and win the battle of Life . since the day I embrace my imperfections I was able to have a balance life. “less expectation “. more of being contended”. and “being more appreciative.”