
We live in a beautifully imperfect world. A world full of mystery, wonder and awe-inspiring moments, including, dark and forboding times.
What if, it all belongs?
What if it is our constant struggle to be perfect and to create perfection all around us that causes strife, our lack of connection and belonging in this world?
It’s a not so subtle force, this desire to be perfect and to make the world around us perfect. Its constant yammering to do better, be better, make better of ourselves and everything we create, achieve, buy and do in the world leaves us feeling dissatisfied and sometimes defeated by ourselves. Its constant wailing pounds away at our peace of mind disrupting our ability to be together in peace in the world.
In its strident calling out for justice, in its insistence that ‘this’ or ‘that’ do not belong in the world, in its labelling of human suffering and misdeeds as ‘wrong’, in its endless battling against one foe versus another, it denies the inescapable truth — Imperfections, sorrows, and struggles are threads woven into the tapestry of our shared human journey.
As long as we do not accept each other and our shared journey, the everything we perceive as imperfect will remain as thorns that prick away at the tapestry of our human journey causing knots of discord everywhere.
It is in our acceptance of imperfections that freedom waits. Acceptance should not be mistaken for resignation or passivity. It does not imply giving up on striving for change, justice, and truth. Instead, acceptance allows us to relinquish the habit of railing against perceived injustices and embrace the imperfect nature of our existence. By understanding that imperfections are an integral part of being human, we foster a sense of belonging and unity in our ability to work together in our shared imperfections.
For me, my quest for perfection often leaves me exhausted. In my journey, I’ve gathered together a tool-kit full of ways to quieten my need for perfection–meditation, exercise, dance, creative endeavours, being in nature. Yet still, there are times I refuse to do the things I know calm and heal me. Still, my quest for perfection raises its persistent voice whenever I fall into the belief that I am separate from the world around me or that the world around me is separate from me by our differences..
The desire for perfection keeps us separate from one another,. Those whom we deem ‘different’, the things we deem unwanted, become the barriers to the things we want most as human beings — a sense of belonging, that we fit in, that we are loved and needed on this journey. In that separation, we arm ourselves against our fears of the other, and lose our belief in our power to affect postiive change, together.
Love is perfect and when I when I choose to stand, strong of back, soft of heart, and lay down my arms full of discord and open them instead to Love, I find myself in a more peaceful, loving world.
When I choose to focus on changing the things I can with loving-kindness, my ripple becomes part of our collective power to change the world for everyone.
Our world is full of imperfectios amidst its perfect beauty. When we let go of criticizing, compaining and condemning the things we do not understand, or judge too harshly, we pave the way for perfect Love, together.
What about you? Are you holding onto your perfect armor, hoping it will protect you from life’s imperfections? Are you holding yourself separate from all the world’s perfectly imperfect beauty?