Imperfections Are Beautiful
From Japanese Traditions to shared opinions on Mental Health Awareness Week. Everyone has Imperfections, what differs is the way each person looks at their Imperfections.
When you start to look at your imperfections, to accept them, it’s normal to only see the bad points at first. It’s when the perspective shift happens that we start to view our imperfections from a uniquely beautiful perspective.
For me, I started being told off for my out-of-box thinking when I was younger, since then I’ve learned to embrace it, as when I was going through CBT therapy for Complex PTSD, my sense of humour lifted everything and made the atmosphere seem a lot lighter.
At the same time, it’s so easy to slip back into that trap of telling myself off if people look at me the wrong way after I’ve said something that may have come across as slightly childish. But, at the end of the day, it makes me who I am today.
It’s how I cope.
But, then my physical symptoms have to do with PCOS like the acne I suffer with on my arms and back, it used to be something I was bullied for at school. But, now it serves as a gateway for empathy for other people, so I make an effort not to hide it anymore during the summer.
Imperfections are too easily covered, but they serve as ways to cope, connect with others and be ourselves.
For those reasons alone, our imperfections are beautiful. You just have to change the way you see yourself first!
"Life is a journey, not a final destination. Embrace the imperfections and find joy in the journey"
- Unknown
Imperfections that come our way on the adventure that is life, are sent towards us to provide learning opportunities to show ourselves that we are far more capable of being strong, resilient and independent when we need to be.
Imperfections present many different forms of learning opportunities that otherwise, we may never have had.
Introducing Wabi-Sabi!
Imperfections change your life, we know this, sometimes for the worse but most of the time for the better. According to the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, it encourages people to look at things as never being perfect or permanent.
Rather than focusing on the healed and repaired, as we so often do, the Japanese concept gets you to think about the broken and unrepaired, to find beauty there, rather than in something which has already been fixed.
This is beautiful, as it takes us right back to that quote at the top of the page, where it speaks about finding beauty in the imperfections in your journey, as opposed to the end destination.
Looking at things, like your imperfections through a positive lens can really help you throughout life and looking at things this way can even help you to cope with certain situations, for example, you might even begin to feel empowered whenever you share something which hasn’t been going too great for you lately.
"Imperfect. Beautiful. The Most Extraordinary Thought Of All.”
-Grace Curley
Look Back!
Thinking about your imperfections can be difficult, from past conversations which could have gone better, to the difficult situations you’ve found yourself in. All of those can bring to light things you may consider to be imperfections.
For example, needing to get out of a dangerous situation. You might just feel the need to hit that little panic button in your brain, which yes, gets you out of the situation but how often are you able to think rationally when that happens?
Chances are you somehow managed to get yourself out of similar situations before, so embrace what you’ve already done and use those same feelings to your advantage.
Yes, even our past can be used to empower us in ways we never expected before, but it’s all about shining a torchlight on those moments, instead of keeping them hidden under a constant storm cloud.
Friday Night Trivia!
Ways To Shead Light On Your Imperfections
Journal, Journal and Journal!
Look back through your journal and see what you consider your imperfections, then write a list of what you consider to be your imperfections. Then, show someone you trust your list and see if they either agree or disagree with your list, yes this can be challenging, but you get someone else’s perspective on your list.
From that, you will hopefully have some positives, which you can list at the side of your imperfections, for you to look at next time you feel disheartened.
Trivia Answer
C) 15th Century
Wabi-Sabi was first discovered as a Japanese concept back in the 15th century. Wabi-Sabi is now also used in interior design and artwork across Japan, where in some cases they repair what is broken using gold.
What Have You Overcome Which Has Been Imperfect For You This Week?
Let us know on Social Media by sharing some of the things you’re proud of, by using the #livingimperfectlyperfect.
Find Your Passion, Embrace Imperfection!
The community is missing you, so if you’re not already please subscribe and join the community and the conversation.
Then, make sure to come back here at the same time next week, where we’ll be talking about Imperfections & Taboo Topics, in the meantime set your alarms for 9 am on Monday when the next edition of ‘Living Imperfectly Perfect’ will be in your inbox.