# Perfectionism, Tragedy, and Creative Blocks

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/podcast-benomtad-7087193/perfectionism-tragedy-and-creative-blocks
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/podcast-benomtad-7087193/perfectionism-tragedy-and-creative-blocks.md
Podcast: [Podcast Benomtad](https://stenobird.com/podcast/podcast-benomtad-7087193)
Published: 2026-03-22T16:10:00+00:00
Episode link: https://benomtad.podbean.com/e/perfectionism-tragedy-and-creative-blocks/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/7q5fj6h4yv47yvsh/Perfectionism_Tragedy_and_Creative_Blocks9tltw.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/podcast-benomtad-7087193/episodes/perfectionism-tragedy-and-creative-blocks
Duration seconds: 7010

## Resource

We read and discuss the Spanish Folktale “The Carnation Youth,” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tragedy both in life and in “The Great Gatsby,” and Ian’s struggles with the creative writing process. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:12 Reading of “The Carnation Youth” 10:05 Letting the Perfect be the Enemy of the Good 14:25 Why Does She Burn the Carnation in the Fire? 24:33 The Carnation is the Prince 29:10 The Carnation Girl’s Second Chances 33:10 Creation & the Erotic 39:13 Why Are You So Afraid? 49:01 Trust, Do What You’re Supposed to Do… 51:56 Meeting the Impossible Challenge 55:53 Stoic Gods 59:11 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tragic Life 1:07:05 The Great Jay Gatsby and Hope 1:18:08 Renewal in Death of Tragedies 1:24:59 Attraction to Tragedy 1:30:28 Stoic Framing and Feeling Out of Joint 1:36:18 My Creative Struggle May be Misapprehended 1:41:46 Talking About the Creative Struggle Thank you for watching! Please check out: The full video episode: https://youtu.be/8_o0x6Z7ixc The Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vqfEOVgfclRgZNXO4boyP3T The Episode Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMIlJwXEK2vq-TnaienDlJJ1ZdTknAqVn “The Carnation Youth” full text: https://archive.org/details/talesofenchantme00eell/page/22/mode/2up For more in this podcast, please go to: Podbean: https://benomtad.podbean.com Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/podcast-benomtad/id1748320863 YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/@scissorsandpaper/videos Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4kJPGlaJjGVyLa9AKhci6t?si=8XXrX9FUT3CU71reCfA5kQ X: https://x.com/Benomtad Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benomtad I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those. Clip Intro Music “A Baroque Letter” - Aaron Kenny

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