The other morning OH said to me “there were two young women on the television” “oh yes” “and they said how much pressure they were under to be perfect, was that the same for you?” “um, no”.
It got me thinking. Yes, I’m afraid I’ve been weeding again. I am very vulnerable to excess of thoughts whilst in this condition.
I thought, what a terrible way to live, with the belief that nothing less than perfect will do. Perfect exam results, perfect hair, perfect boyfriend, perfect job, perfect children. An unachievable goal which means you spend your life unfulfilled and frustrated. It goes part way to explain the incessant selfies, the public yearnings for approval, the need for friends to say “you are beautiful” “you are wonderful”. No it was not like that for me and I pitied them.
Then I thought, but I am guilty too. I discard any photographs with a miscoloured petal, or blotched leaf. Although I don’t use photoshop I often crop my pictures, getting rid of an unsightly defoliated twig or spent flower. Perfect plants, perfect people. They really don’t exist. Well except me of course, I am just faultless!
Here are some roses, they are less than perfect, they are wonderful in their imperfection.
Off The Edge Gardening 
Leonard Cohen wrote a song called “Anthem”, with the words, “Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.…”.
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I love that! Thanks Mrs D x
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Two perfect offerings: The observation that nothing in the world is perfect, nor is it meant to be. The other is Leonard Cohen’s explanation of the “crack” in everything. Love it.
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Thank you Kayti and thank you Mrs D!
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Well said, or should that be “perfectly” said?
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Ha! And thank you 🙂
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Well, of course it’s a painful, relentless driver. But the other side of that is ‘why bother?’ I think we have to have some aspirations and some demands to make of ourselves. Then the questions become which, why and where? XX
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I think the answer is always to strive to do the best that we can, at the same time being aware that it might not be perfect and accepting that this is OK. And of course one persons perfection is not always the same as another’s…… It is a minefield out there! xxx
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