This isn’t the post I intended to write first.  But life doesn’t always go the way you thought or intended it would. Admittedly, that drives a control-freak like me batty.

Which leads me to the subject at hand: Perfection.

Just shy of three years ago, I got my tattoo.

I had waited for over a decade, pondering both the right design and the right placement and then looking for the right artist.  In early October 2007, it clicked.  I went to my appointment with a sketch, and the artist spent over an hour working with me to develop the final stencil — a simple line drawing about 1 1/2″ in diameter. Finally I got inked.

Afterward, I was furious. I couldn’t look at it … because it wasn’t symmetrical.  I was permanently marked (scarred?) with something that wasn’t right.  (This despite the fact that everyone who saw it liked it and complimented me.)

Within a couple of days, I realized that my tattoo was instead a much-needed gift from the universe.

My tattoo is an ever-present reminder to myself that something does not need to be perfect to be beautiful.

It’s a lesson I’m still learning.

Earlier today, @TarynP tweeted “Blog roll call! Who has a blog, what’s it called/name and what’s the focus? Include your link!” And I thought, “Damn, I’m not quite ready.”

Then I read a blog post by Elizabeth Potts Weinstein for “those of you who are still holding back. … Who are not writing the blog posts. … Because you don’t find yourself perfect.”

On my way to orchestra rehearsal tonight, I was listening to Terence Winter (creator of HBO’s new series “Broadway Empire”) on “Fresh Air” talking about what he learned while working under David Chase on “The Sopranos”:

… And, you know, people don’t always have the right words.

They don’t have the ability to stand up and eloquently state their case. They fum- — or they backtrack, just as I’m doing now, and that’s more real, and that’s what David — David taught us trust that. It’s okay. You know, it’s actually better that way.

Although I’d installed the software and started setting up this blog over two weeks ago, I still hadn’t “officially launched” it yet.  Because I was going to tweak the CSS and change the graphics to customize the template. Because I hadn’t finished creating categories and an RSS feed.  Because it wasn’t perfect yet.

But all that doesn’t really matter.  Sure, it’s nice, but why should that stop me from sharing the half-dozen ideas that have been rattling around my head for the last month? Besides, how many people are actually going to see it anyway?

So I beg your indulgence.  There will be some housekeeping going on in the next few days/weeks, and the way this blog looks and works will be changing, hopefully for the better.

In the meantime, I’ll be writing. Instead of waiting for perfection.

P.S.: Thanks to the folks I met at the tweetup before Sarah Robinson’s “Creating Irresistable Presence” event last week. Even though I didn’t share the whole weekend with you, you allowed me to see myself differently and you’ve helped me to push myself out of the nest. A special shoutout to Jena Thompson, who, after I told her about my ink and what it meant, said it was the best tattoo story she’d ever heard.