How to-Kick-Perfectionism-Out-of-The-Kitchen

by Bethany of Kathi’s Clutter Free Academy Team

Although my kitchen is now clutter free, I can still find plenty to feel insecure about. After sixteen years of marriage, my dishes are showing some wear, and our silverware has morphed into a hodgepodge of unrelated utensils. I have become proficient in the kitchen, but not exactly stellar.

It’s so easy to focus on all the things we want to make just a bit better before we invite anyone over for dinner. But this habit can lead so quickly to perfectionism: an unwillingness to do anything we can’t do just right.

Magic happens when people gather around a table to eat and chat together. If we fret about the details and try to cover up the shortcomings that are obvious to us, we’ll miss out on the beauty of communing.

Here are five reminders to help us kick perfectionism out of our kitchens:

  1. Dinner is not a photo shoot for a magazine.
  1. A cooking show isn’t filming in your kitchen as you cook.
  1. A professional organizer will not be present to evaluate your progress in your clutter free journey.
  1. Your food, service, and decor will not be rated by Zagat.
  1. It’s all about the welcome, the hospitality, and the food.

Think about the around-the-table moments you treasure in your heart—moments threaded together with conversation while forks clinked on plates. You likely remember these snapshots because those occasions were special and you felt cared for. You don’t treasure these memories because you sat in the midst of perfection; you treasure them because despite imperfect people, the burned chicken, and a wobbly chair, you felt included. This is our aim when we welcome people into our kitchen: to make them feel like they belong.

If this is all true—if hospitality really isn’t about being perfect—then we are all capable of hosting a fantastic dinner party. We are all more than qualified to love on people by inviting them over for conversation and a bite to eat.

So be brave! Go ahead and invite friends over, despite the fact that imperfection resides in your kitchen. Don’t let the goal of perfection warp your idea of what it means to be hospitable: don’t allow it to taint the food you serve. Confidently invite friends and family into your home and decline to feel shame about the imperfect. (After all, every home has it.)

Show perfectionism the door, and make room to welcome people at your table.


CureForThePerfectLifeKick Perfectionism to the curb in every area of your life! Check out my book, The Cure for the Perfect Life, where we deal with the 4 P’s:

  • Perfectionism
  • Procrastination
  • People-Pleasing
  • Performancism

Embrace your imperfect self and go change the world!

Get Your Free Kit!

 Subscribe to get the Clutter Free Kit (handout + video interview with Kathi) & other goodies along the way.

 

Success! Please check your email to confirm