in a lot of aspects of life, people will expect you to be perfect. in school, getting points off on an assignment is framed as a horrible thing, something that you'll never be able to redeem for and something that's going to ruin your life. in s-pop, even though we may not be pushing "perfect", there's this pressure to be the most known, the best vocalist, the best rapper, the one who can hit the highest notes or the most syllables per second. there's a feeling that you always have to be better than you are or are happy being. and it gets tiring. many times, i've recorded a song and felt good about it, really loved it and thought i'd done well. and then i'd go to this community and see everyone's amazing covers. i'd start to wonder if it was my fault i wasn't known, that i just needed to be "better" at singing. but i didn't know where to start, and it seemed like everyone just had that knowledge of how to be better. it seemed like i'd need to be perfect to even stand a chance. but perfection isn't really real. no one can have zero flaws in their voice. we're all kids and teens here. we might have beautiful voices, but we're nowhere near professionals. so why am i holding myself to those same expectations? now, i don't have a version of myself that i feel like i need to be. there's no ideal voice, face, or body i feel obligated to get. but i do have goals, and dreams. i have things i want, but i don't feel rushed to have them already. i know i'm not quite where i want to be yet, but someday i'll get there. someday, i'll achieve my goal and move on to the next.