Are you perfect? Do you feel as though you should be? Many children grew up being told what to do and how to do it by parents, teachers, even other children. They were praised when they did well, and criticized or penalized when they made a mistake - or when they didn't try at all, but that's a different issue! I can understand the importance of trying to be perfect. That's the way to success: being picked first when the teacher chooses two students to select teams, getting into the best college, being hired by the best company, attracting the best mate, having perfect children. Aargh!
Being perfect doesn't sound like any fun at all. Perfect people are too anxious to make a good impression to be silly or to do something they haven't yet perfected. They are too afraid to fail to try something new and different, be creative, color outside the lines and think outside the box.
People, businesses, churches, organizations - they all need to try new things, give themselves permission to fail, learn from their mistakes and try again.
"Every failure is a unique opportunity to learn, and every lesson will make us better at what we do. We have a tradition of celebrating these lessons by drinking champagne every time we screw up....Whenever we realize that we haven't failed in a while, it's a sign that we haven't taken enough risks." - Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell (Finnish mobile game development company)
The book that I have been drawing inspiration from this year, How to be content, has a section on imperfections. The author points out that in the Japanese art of repair (kintsukuroi) "a broken pot is repaired with gold in a way that draws attention to the mend and celebrates the idea that the damage makes the object unique and all the more exquisite". You have probably seen broken ceramics repaired that way at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. To me, they look like a celebration of imperfection.
Being wrong : adventures in the margin of error / Schulz, Kathryn. 128 SCH
Stronger than you think : becoming whole without having to be perfect : a woman's guide / Eckert, Kim Gaines, 248.8 ECK
The spirituality of imperfection : modern wisdom from classic stories / Kurtz, Ernest. 291.4 KUR
Why Christmas trees aren't perfect / Schneider, Dick, E SCH