In Praise of Imperfection

The Thrifty Yankee ^ | 08-09-10 | Roby Eliza

[Stoutcat]

...We live today in an age which seems to require perfection. Our hair must be perfectly styled, glossy and controlled. Our teeth must be perfectly white, and of course perfectly straight. Our (women’s) bodies must be a perfect size 0, the clothes we wear must be, if not haute couture, then either high-end fashion or so unattractive and ill-fitting as to be seen as stylish.

Our homes must be perfect palaces, spacious and impressive, furnished with gleaming marble countertops, brushed stainless kitchen appliances, enormous flat screen televisions in the home theater, and additional domestic perfection throughout the rest of the house. Our pets must must be adorably perfect, whether pedigreed or not. (Of course, in contrast with all that flossy perfection, our personal lives must be fraught with alcoholism, drug dependency, abuse, promiscuity, infidelity, bad language, and coarseness of every kind.)

Thankfully, most of us live lives far removed from that impossible (and implausible) “ideal,” although many of us try to emulate that plastic perfection to one extent or another. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with striving for perfection; just make sure that it’s real perfection — treating others as you would have them treat you — and not that awful synthetic Stepford ne plus ultra that can be seen on all of our 500+ channels of nothing worth watching...

[Amberdawn]

Good article. Emphasize what really matters in life, instead of the superficial.