imperfection by concern with important things

Preoccupation with self is good, as is a tendency toward procrastination, self-delusion, darkness, jealousy, groveling, greediness, addictiveness. They shouldn’t be too perfect; perfect means shallow and unreal and fatally uninteresting. I like for them to have a nice sick sense of humor and to be concerned with important things, by which I mean that they are interested in political and psychological and spiritual matters. I want them to want to know who we are and what life is all about. I like them to be mentally ill in the same sorts of ways that I am.

I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.

linked mentions for "imperfection by concern with important things":

1. human capacity for self-detachment
   To detach oneself from even the worst conditions is a uniquely human capability. However, this unique capacity of man to detach himself from any
   
2. Bird by Bird
   the idea of spending entire days in someone else’s office doing someone else’s work did not suit my father’s soul One of the gifts of being a