A Question of Taste

From “Sylvania Waters” in the early 1990′s to shows like “Grand Designs” today, reality television has evolved. I have to admit to watching a lot of it, though I’m pleased to say my personal missing link was “Temptation Island”. I am one of many Australians fascinated by the latest daily offering, Channel 10′s “Master Chef”.

I am confident that youngsters watching this show are far better served (pardon the pun) by this cooking show than they were by “Big Brother” and the like. However, I do have a concern about one of the themes that keeps coming through. George, Gary and Matt all seem to advocate something few of the other shows attempted – Perfection.

As a recovering perfectionist I worry about anyone who places themselves in the role of mentor or teacher and then encourages students to measure themselves against the unachievable. Mastery is a wonderful thing; I believe wholeheartedly in the pursuit of excellence; But perfection is a theory, not a reality.

I think this is especially true when talking about wine and food where it is literally a question of taste.

Knowing that perfectionism feeds into one of the ten thinking errors identified in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), and that there are so many wonderful words that can capture the delights of the senses, I’d like to hear less of perfection and more of the mastery after which the show is named.

http://au.reachout.com/find/articles/common-thinking-errors

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