How #drawitagain Gave Me Peace of Mind

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steemit-enternamehere-drawitagain-thingsthatarecircle-original.jpg
^{This circa 1997 original was tucked away at my grandparent's house, patiently waiting two decades to be unearthed and posted to the blockchain.}

Honestly, I don't exactly remember drawing this picture,

yet I do know it was during summer break in grade school. It was common to spend most of our vacation time at their rural Texas home, where there was no TV, Internet or central A/C. To entertain myself I would often play outside, climbing trees, riding my bike and exploring the arid property.

When outside became too hot, I'd go indoors to sketch and color until that was boring and outside called me back again. While it may not be much to look at, the original drawing made in the 90's is extra important to me because almost none of the artwork I made as a child is in existence today. Finding my old "things that are circle" doodle on dot matrix paper was like stepping into a time machine and visiting myself twenty years ago.

Drafty in here

Fast-forward to 2018. After creating a few too many pencil drafts of my ideas for this little project, I got to work on the inky part. Everything was going great, I was moving right along, enjoying the process quite a lot, when suddenly, thanks to only a slight lapse in concentration, I goofed.

steemit-enternamehere-drawitagain-thingsthatarecircle.jpg
^{Ink on copy paper}

This was bad.

I stopped drawing and put down the pen. I closed my eyes in disbelief. All that time spent in preparation was for nothing. I told myself to breathe and be cool. Pride was burning a giant question into my mind: “To post or not to post??” I stood up and got to work doing every productive thing I could think of that wasn't drawing it again.

There was a slew of activity that took place, productive procrastination alive and well:

steemit-enternamehere-drawitagain-procrastination-collage.jpg
^{A) baked a cake from a box, B) cooked bean soup from scratch, C)made an impromptu mushroom quiche, D) washed laundry, E) folded laundry and F) helped @jschindler with some yard work.}

Finally, as the afternoon was drawing to a close, I was hit upside the head with a loud realization: F*ck it! The challenge is called Draw It Again, NOT

Draw It Again Perfectly -- OR ELSE.

“Things That Are Circle 2.0” was completed that evening, what a relief. Peace of mind all mine.

How often do you find yourself chasing the perfection ideal?
How do you let go of it?
Let's talk about it.

#drawitagain is a challenge created by @jillustrations where a previous work is redrawn to demonstrate skill progression. #drawitagain Round 2 was held in March 2018. As of this posting (May 2018), there have not been any announcements made regarding #drawitagain Round 3. This post isn't an official submission, this is for kicks.