Up: [[Compulsion]] Created: 2024-11-01 > [!orbit] [[Marion Woodman]] in *Addiction to Perfection* > Living by principles is not living your own life. It is easier to try to be better than you are than to *be* who you are. If you are trying to live by ideals, you are constantly plagued by a sense of unreality. (p. 61) This is interesting because it turns my belief in the value of self-improvement on its head. Or, more accurately, my obsession with perfection. It’s a tightrope walk between intentions that are real for me versus intentions that are principles/ideals/shoulds that I think I need to embrace. “Plagued by a sense of unreality”? Is that true for me? I’m not so sure about that. I think there can only be unreality if I’m aware of what authenticity would be for me. Woodman clarifies that the unreality comes from not being present to what’s actually happening because of being so lost in ‘must’, ‘should’ and ‘have to’. Okay, I can see that.