Imperfection
“In
nature, nothing is perfect, and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted,
bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”
Alice
Walker
In
life, nothing is perfect. But we can have perfect moments, maybe even perfect
days. Leo Tolstoy said, “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be
content.” And if perfection is your only goal, you may"catch excellence," as
Vince Lombardi suggested, but be disappointed even in that.
However,
if you can see perfection even in the broken places—or possibly because of the
broken places—then you will never be disappointed. As Alice Walker wrote in the
quote above, trees contorted and bent by the wind are still beautiful—and not
only beautiful, but interesting. The bay trees on the Atlantic side of Block
Island are literally sculpted by the constant wind. Not only are they
beautiful, but their berries smell heavenly. And this banyan tree with its many
drooping and shaggy branches was the most beautiful tree I saw on Ocracoke
Island. I wanted to sit under it forever.
Lao Tsu
said, “Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.” Just as I was
drawn to the banyan tree, we are drawn to people who are content with their
imperfections. They aren’t embarrassed by their flaws or straining to hide them;
they are simply comfortable in their own skin. And in their comfort, we find
comfort, too.
Shannon
Adler wrote, “There is no perfection, only beautiful versions of brokenness.”
We all have flaws. If we’ve lived long enough, every single one of us has
broken places. And as Leonard Cohen taught us in his song, Anthem, “There
is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Embrace your flaws
and let your light shine through.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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