Welcome back to the perservice podcast, and a very Merry Gigmas to you. At the time I published this, it is the middle of December, and I am in the throes of Nutcrackers with Miami City Ballet.

And that’s of course one of the expressions that inspired the name of the podcast-that this is a show by and for classical musicians, and many of us find work playing with orchestras that pay per service. But lately I’ve been thinking about some of the other meanings of that term (while playing 10 shows a week) That music is a service, and in my case, it’s largely a service to elevate the dancers. And the dancers are performing a service for the paying audience, because music and the arts are meant to be shared. And if we’re doing just for the pursuit of perfection, then what’s the point?

And also that even though we’re playing the same music for 20 shows, each performance, and each day is a unique experience. We might have a different set of colleagues each week.

And so we get together here to create some consistency in our ever changing lives to talk about some interesting topics and hopefully find ways to encourage and inspire each other.

Today, we’re looking at something that all of us have struggled with, or still struggle with, and that is being a perfectionist. What about it could be helpful, and how much of it is harmful? It’s an interesting conversation for sure. Jessica Weirsma has a major epiphany and drops a “Truth Brahmbs” on us, Anna Luce lays the smack down, Christian  Marshall asks some hard questions, and I’m Michael O’Gieblyn- just trying to piece it all together,  and we’ve got the return of Gig of the Week!