“I see other people and I loathe the seemingly careless
way they live their lives. ”
their darkest secrets.
photography and individuals submitting
of the deadly sins through creative
This booklet explores the consequences
perfectionism leads to the 7 deadly sins.
This zine is based on the theme of how
“I believe
the pursuit of perfection
in life whether it be in your career,
in your looks or even how you clean can
lead to greed. That constant need for something
to be better and better, never being satisfied. It is
toxic, we always want it to be more beautiful, more
successful and we are greedy for everything. I feel like
sometimes we must just look at what we have in life and be
grateful and stop aiming for perfectionism. Because nothing
in life is perfect the world is filled with beautiful imperfections.”
NIV)
(Ephesians 4:19
and they are full of greed.”
to indulge in every kind of impurity,
themselves over to sensuality so as
“Having lost all sensitivity, they have given
an individual can process before it begins affecting their mentality, I must be perfect because of this. I cannot afford to make a mistake in-front of important people and agencies, I envy those who can be themselves and be liked by everyone, I must disguise my true self through perfectionism.
controlling me?
judgement, am I good enough or is my perfectionism
perfection in the agency I choose has clouded my
but why should I have to change? My strive for
which may be the problem resulting in my rejection,
are not worth my time. My pride leads to arrogance
who only have 1000 followers or less on Instagram
for. I believe I am better than small agencies, those
controlling my decisions on which agencies I apply
I confess my pride is overwhelmingly strong,
I have worked so hard. There is only so much rejection
I confess I feel wrath at the smug and
dream career, I feel they are less deserving of it because
unempathetic talent directors that decide
I confess I am envious of those who are living my
my worth from a few photos sent through
lifestyle I want to attain.
email. My personality is not allowed to
I produce, even the
shine through, instead they see a miniscule
by others, the work
extract of my identity that has been
the way I am perceived
rejected so many times it does not exist
anymore.
I strive for perfection. In
I confess I want to attain a luxury lifestyle for the financial freedom and my thirst for fame. Greed is my ego, wanting increasingly more. Buying luxurious items and garments,
becoming popular on social media, this is what perfection looks like for me. Writing this confession, I realise how sad this is. I have had a privileged upbringing, has my spoilt outlook on
life come down to money and fame? Living a life being loved
with no life destroying disease creeping their way in should be
my goal, but I want the fame and fortune too, I want it all. The
uncontrollable thirst I feel for money and fame is indescribable. It eats me up inside every day, but I cannot stop it.
“Pornography presents male and female ideals of beauty
and perfection that cause
lustful desires amongst men
and women. I am aware that
these women and men are
only presented as perfection through camera angles,
plastic surgeries and fantasies
however I still compare
myself to these people and
understand that men may not
lust after me as I do not fit
these ideas of perfection. We
often thrive upon our desires and see them as goals, be it
our physical image or ability to present ourselves as the ideal image”.
Kingdom of God.”
that sort of life will not inherit the
I have before, that anyone living
idolatry. Let me tell you again, as
impurity, lustful pleasures, and
are very clear: sexual immorality,
your sinful nature, the results
“When you follow the desires of
Galatians 5:19-21
I confess my motivation to achieve my dream is deteriorating. My insatiable need for perfectionism has turned to sloth, suppressing my true abilities. I used to apply to agencies regularly, create con-
tent for social media, sometimes gaining a good response. Most of
the time it would reach the same minority of individuals and noth-
ing more, the defeat experienced made me give up and become lazy. I do not create content anymore; I use my university work as an excuse, but I know I can do both. I only have myself to blame.
I confess I lust for the attention off oth-
ers. The fame I want to achieve, the life-
style I want to possess comes down to
attention. I say to my family and peers
that I hate being the centre of attention,
but I confess, I thrive off it. I always like
to stand out of a crowd, hence why my
fashion identity is so important to me. I
act and dress in a way to receive compli-
ments off others. When I don’t receive
any positive responses from my peers,
I feel self-conscious and vulnerable and
imperfect. I shouldn’t care what others
think and I tell myself this, but I know
me, and my ego do care.
I confess, gluttony is my weakness. My need
to thrive off people’s attention, time and help
everyday has made me lose my true authenticity.
I want more, more, more, which in turn makes
me vulnerable to criticism and have a weak
heart. Gluttony feeds my ego; it feeds my mental health, and it masks my vulnerability.
up a lot of my time and
energy. My strive for perfectionism
is controlled by my obsession with food.
I overindulge, eating away at my emotions, Gluttony up a lot of my time and energy. My anxieties takes and stress. This indulgent behaviour has got
strive for perfectionism controlledwith by my so serious I have stoppedissocialising myobsession friends as with food. I overindulge, eating away at my emotions, much, causing me to be upset and lonely. I order multiple
anxieties and stress. indulgent has got so take-aways when I amThis bored, usuallybehaviour on a night, contributing serious I have stopped socialising with my friends to my financial difficulties. All these factors lead toas mymuch,
causing meworsening. to be upsetBut andwhat lonely. multiple takedepression doIIorder do when I’m depressed? I aways when I am bored, on a night, contributing EAT and I EAT and EAT. usually I feel defeated. to my financial difficulties. All these factors lead to my
depression worsening. But what do I do when I’m depressed? I EAT and I EAT and EAT. I feel defeated.
Gluttony is often conn ected with idolatry (Philip pians 3:19; 1 Corinthians 10 :7), and leads to deadness of heart (Psalm 115: 4-8, 119:70).
Gluttony takes
“I’d say
that I’m a
perfectionist out of pride because
I have an
overwhelming
desire to
be perfect.
I constantly
challenge myself to
pursue new goals because I
feel a deep sense of pleasure and satisfaction when I achieve my ambitions. I refuse to
accept anything short of perfection through
stretching and testing my intelligence. I think critically of my accomplishments, and believe that nothing I do is worth my while unless it is absolutely perfect. Any flaws or mistakes
in what I do make me question my self-pride,
because how can I be proud of myself unless I am perfect at everything I do?”
“Pride is so natural to fallen man that it springs up in his heart like weeds in a wellwatered garden … its every touch is evil.”
“One notable way perfectionism
impacts my life is through my
mental health. It has control over my behaviour as it fuels my need
to have control over my mind and my life, two things
that are out of
my hands and
I can’t truly
control. I envy people who seem
to have control over their lives
and their daily routines, which encourages me to be better.”
‘Your punishment shall be immersed in freezing water forever’
“Sometimes I get
overwhelmed with
the idea of starting tasks, as I hold the results of my work to
high standards. Subsequently I find
procrastination and the idea of starting tomorrow
(everyday)
appealing. I do get
lazy because of this- this
is something that bothers me. As I find the fear of
perfection leads to me being lazy.”
‘Your
punishment
in hell will
be thrown
into snake
pits.’
“I am aware I hold myself to a high
standard. My health, my work, my
weight, the clothes I wear and the way
I look. Do other people? I see other
people and I loathe the seemingly
careless way they live their lives. I
hate that everyone else can be happy
in their skin, happy with the work they submit and
happy with the way they look in pictures. Why
should I sit in my prison of perfectionism meanwhile
being so accepting of other peoples choices. This
feeling of anger, another imperfect part of my personality
I hopelessly attempt to hide, why do other people get to be
happy but not me.”
‘If found guilty of wrath in Hell you shall be dismembered alive’
Pondering, over-thinking, and contemplating, I am sat here trying to think of the perfect way to start this creative writing piece on perfectionism. But here I am, living up to
what a perfectionist does. The thought of
perfectionism is associated with the up-most happiness, surrounded by a golden halo, but
the horror of not achieving it crushes people’s sanity and belief in their capabilities. I admit
I strive for perfection, but I will never wholly achieve this in my eyes.
Perfectionism is the underlying issue of
people’s unhappiness. It leads individuals
to change their identity, so what they see as a reflection in the mirror is their idealistic perfection. But perfectionism is seen
differently in everyone’s eyes, making the
strive for it a never-ending yellow brick road.