Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Perfect Imperfection

Sometimes, I let my desk get cluttered.  Sometimes, my favorite cookbook is the Yellow Pages.  Sometimes, I get fussy over small things.  Why?  Because I am perfect.  And so are you.

Most of us spend our lives trying to attain perfection.  We fault ourselves for our flaws, and we hold grudges against ourselves for our failures.  I often find myself thinking about what I *should* have or *could* have done.  I have a lot of "what if"s in my head.  I often doubt or second guess my own choices and actions.  I've been told that I'm an insufferable perfectionist about a lot of things.  It has even been suggested that there might be some OCD in a lot of what I do.  I'd be willing to bet that there are quite a few of you, out there, who find the same things in yourselves.  In fact, I think that many of us are even harder on ourselves than we are on people whom we dislike or whom we feel have wronged us.

I invite you, now, to step outside and take a look around you.  Do you see a perfect blade of grass?  Do you see an imperfect tree?  How many things do you see that are both?  Things that are made so much more perfect, simply *because* of their imperfections?  I am reminded of a tree that I drive by quite often.  I call it (Him?) "Axle, The Grumpy Tree."  Named after a friend of mine, whom I often refer to as "Grumpy Bear."  The man is as gruff as they come, and often has a look about him that could scare the blue from the sky.  But, once you get to know him, he's actually very smart, very funny, and absolutely adorable.  The tree is damaged (by lightning, I think) and has only just a branch or two left that still grow leaves in the spring.  Even one of those branches fell a few weeks ago in a windy storm.  And yet, I find this tree to be one of the most interesting and wonderful trees that I have ever seen.  The Grumpy Tree is perfect, in my eyes.

Have you ever heard of a "Persian Flaw?"  Do you know what it is?  Persian rugs were once among the finest in the world.  So fine that the rugmakers began to fear that the Divine would become enraged or jealous of their craftsmanship.  After all, only the Divine is supposed to be perfect, right?  Well, *that's* a chat for another day, but you get the idea.  ;)  In any case, in order to keep things even, the rugmakers began to add a deliberate flaw into their weaving.  Something small.  Something you may not even notice, if you weren't looking for it.  But, it was enough, for the sake of humility and modesty.

There is nothing on this Earth that is not flawed or imperfect in some way.  And that is what makes it all so perfect.  As long as we learn lessons from our own mistakes, and the mistakes of others, then how can we truly be so unhappy that they exist?  If there were never any mistakes made, then we would never really need to learn new things, would we?  We would never have the opportunities or the chances to improve.

There can be no good without evil, and no evil without good.  There can be no beauty without ugliness, and no ugliness without beauty.  Opposites are what give us the ability to see both sides of a coin.  Why does my desk get so cluttered?  Because I am taking an online course to be able to get a great work-at-home job and improve my family and myself, so I spend a lot of time at my desk, studying and learning and making progress toward my goal.  Why did I order pizza instead of making a good, home-cooked meal?  Well, to be honest, my cooking stinks.  So, I call it taking pity on my husband and children when I order pizza.  ;)  Why do I get fussy over such small things?  Well, when I learn the whole truth on that one, I'll get back to you.  But, without those things that I so often see as my failures and my flaws, I would never be able to appreciate the things that I'm good at, and I would never be able to find ways to improve myself.

Look over your own life, and look deep and hard.  You are perfect, just like me, because we are both so imperfect.

Until we meet again,
Wysp

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for these little bits if Wysp Wisdom!

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  2. Beautifully said. I love imperfect things. There is such beauty in them. My girls and I love a tree that has no leaves left on him. we call him Grandfather Tree. We're not sure how much longer he will be around, so we give him as much love as we can. He is perfect in our eyes. Great blog. I hope it brings you much joy.

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  3. SO true. Awesome. Gonna call you tomorrow Wyspy... have been so busy. *hugs*

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