Fall is imminent. With each new season we customarily change a few pieces of decor in the house. I see a basket of apples, pears, squashes, etc. have appeared on the coffee table. It looks nice. Upon closer inspection this morning, I was struck by how realistic the fruits look. It’s amazing how much detail has been captured. How do they get them to look so perfect? As I stared a bit longer I noticed the ‘imperfections’ incorporated into them – little blemishes and bruises – maybe that’s what makes them look ‘real’. Interesting. Had they been totally ‘perfect’ I’m sure they wouldn’t have impressed me as much. So maybe that applies to people as well – perhaps it’s those little imperfections that have something to do with making us unique and more ‘real’.
Thinking about perfection; the perfect looking people that we see from Hollywood, with their perfect bodies, and always perfectly ‘made-up’ – well, I wonder what effect that has on the majority in our society that can’t ever aspire to replicate such ‘perfection’. I wonder what it’s like for someone who, as soon as they step outside, is judged every time on how they ‘look’ and what they’re wearing. The media are always ready to pounce on them if they’re having a less than perfect day. There must be a lot of stress involved in looking that good! Not the least of which must be you’re never supposed to look older, but that’s another story.
Another thing I notice: looking around many stores there seems to be a disconnect – lots of very small clothes that I’m sure would probably look good on 1% of the population who are also under 25 years old, but most of the folks walking round the malls don’t look like that, and wouldn’t fit into those clothes, or if they tried, would look ridiculous; unfortunately some do try!
I don’t see anything wrong in trying to be, or trying to look the best we can, of course, and it’s great if it makes us feel good about ourselves, but I’m thinking that perhaps we spend too much time and effort trying to be more than we need to be! What’s wrong with just being who you are, and feeling okay with that? Nobody really has the right to judge us after all.
Who decides what perfection is anyway? And... Since perfection is an absolute, it cannot change, or create anything; it wouldn’t be perfection if it could. To quote the late poet, Sylvia Plath: “Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children” (The Munich Mannequins). There’s beauty in being real, and ‘real’ for most of us includes a few imperfections!
Thinking about perfection; the perfect looking people that we see from Hollywood, with their perfect bodies, and always perfectly ‘made-up’ – well, I wonder what effect that has on the majority in our society that can’t ever aspire to replicate such ‘perfection’. I wonder what it’s like for someone who, as soon as they step outside, is judged every time on how they ‘look’ and what they’re wearing. The media are always ready to pounce on them if they’re having a less than perfect day. There must be a lot of stress involved in looking that good! Not the least of which must be you’re never supposed to look older, but that’s another story.
Another thing I notice: looking around many stores there seems to be a disconnect – lots of very small clothes that I’m sure would probably look good on 1% of the population who are also under 25 years old, but most of the folks walking round the malls don’t look like that, and wouldn’t fit into those clothes, or if they tried, would look ridiculous; unfortunately some do try!
I don’t see anything wrong in trying to be, or trying to look the best we can, of course, and it’s great if it makes us feel good about ourselves, but I’m thinking that perhaps we spend too much time and effort trying to be more than we need to be! What’s wrong with just being who you are, and feeling okay with that? Nobody really has the right to judge us after all.
Who decides what perfection is anyway? And... Since perfection is an absolute, it cannot change, or create anything; it wouldn’t be perfection if it could. To quote the late poet, Sylvia Plath: “Perfection is terrible, it cannot have children” (The Munich Mannequins). There’s beauty in being real, and ‘real’ for most of us includes a few imperfections!
RSS Feed