The Truth About Perfection
This is one of the cruelest truths, and the most inescapable. It is one that every human being must realize sooner or later and once it is learned, it is never forgotten. It is a universal truth, shared by even popular fictional characters.
Learning that there is no "perfect" is life's hardest lesson and there's no easy way to learn it. It just happens, I suppose. Perhaps it happens at different points for different people, but I realize that it is one of the milestones to mental maturity. For most of one's childhood, we think our parents are perfect. We find idols in the entertainment industry and assume that they are perfect.
Meg Cabot was perfect until I realized that all of her main characters are alike. My brother was perfect until I just knew he wasn't. My entire family seemed perfect until I learned of all the disagreements, the inner politics. Billie Joe Armstrong was perfect until I read that he drank, did drugs, and basically ran loose as a teenager. And it still breaks my heart to keep repeating to myself that nothing is perfect, that no one is perfect.
Friendships aren't perfect; people stop calling and make new friends. Family isn't perfect; everyone argues and tries controlling each other. Artists, visual and literary, are far from perfect. Many have mental health issues and unhealthy grudges that have been nursed from childhood.
Harry Potter was forced to learn that Albus Dumbeldore, his mentor, was not perfect. When you see that people aren't as strong as you think they are, or everything you imagine, your world temporarily shatters. No one is perfect. Nothing is perfect, because there's no such thing. I guess they try to teach us this in kindergarten when teachers read us stories like "Nobody's Perfect, Little Bunny" or whatever. But when it sinks in, it really sinks in.
And sometimes, life gives us little reminders.
Learning that there is no "perfect" is life's hardest lesson and there's no easy way to learn it. It just happens, I suppose. Perhaps it happens at different points for different people, but I realize that it is one of the milestones to mental maturity. For most of one's childhood, we think our parents are perfect. We find idols in the entertainment industry and assume that they are perfect.
Meg Cabot was perfect until I realized that all of her main characters are alike. My brother was perfect until I just knew he wasn't. My entire family seemed perfect until I learned of all the disagreements, the inner politics. Billie Joe Armstrong was perfect until I read that he drank, did drugs, and basically ran loose as a teenager. And it still breaks my heart to keep repeating to myself that nothing is perfect, that no one is perfect.
Friendships aren't perfect; people stop calling and make new friends. Family isn't perfect; everyone argues and tries controlling each other. Artists, visual and literary, are far from perfect. Many have mental health issues and unhealthy grudges that have been nursed from childhood.
Harry Potter was forced to learn that Albus Dumbeldore, his mentor, was not perfect. When you see that people aren't as strong as you think they are, or everything you imagine, your world temporarily shatters. No one is perfect. Nothing is perfect, because there's no such thing. I guess they try to teach us this in kindergarten when teachers read us stories like "Nobody's Perfect, Little Bunny" or whatever. But when it sinks in, it really sinks in.
And sometimes, life gives us little reminders.
I think I'm trying to say that perfection, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
You have to really appreciate life and understand it to think this way but it is true. I had a recent experience that has changed my life forever. I will never ever take life for granted again and that was my reminder that there is perfection in the world. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.
Anji, April 29th, 2007 at 05:38:19am
Psh. There is perfection.
Arts is perfect.
Snowflakes are perfect.
Raindrops are perfect.
The cleanest crisp, blank, white piece of paper is perfect.
The little butterfly perched on the rosy pink petal is perfect.
My right canine tooth is perfect.
A reflection is perfect.
Arts is perfect, even when crudly drawn, out of proportion figures seem to spoil the composition.
Snowflakes are perfect, even when they're thawing into a wet pool.
Raindrops are perfect, even after pollutants and sulphuric acid have mixed in with it.
The cleanest crisp, blank, white piece of paper is perfect, even with it's microscopically visible rough surface.
The little butterfly perched on the rosy pink petal is perfect, even with it's chipped wing and bent antennae.
My right canine tooth is perfect, even with it's coffe stain and filling.
A reflection is perfect, even with ripple of distortion tearing through it.
There is perfection, it's just that every now and again, you need reminding of it.
Anji, April 29th, 2007 at 05:34:44am
I realized that nothing is perfect last year. I stopped thinking my parents were perfect, I stop thinking my heroes were perfect. It knew that I wasn't perfect a long time ago. But I have finally confronted it and accepted it. And thats the most important thing.
worn-out astronaut., April 16th, 2007 at 08:24:12am
I agree with you here Sruti
Nobody is perfect
Nothing is perfect
In a way, perfection is just a figment of our imaginations.
There is no such thing as perfect
Just something we claim is perfect and other people can think the total opposite
Sure, some people seem perfect, but maybe if you got to know them they could be awful.
This is a great blog
<3
Mike Dirnt., April 16th, 2007 at 06:31:04am
"Yes but, nobody is perfect because nobody can live up to everybodies expectations, Not one single person meets the criteria of everybody out there. "
I quite like what Liz said. [:
I don't believe in perfect.. No one is, I couldn't agree more.
For example, you could meet someone who you think was the most beautiful looking person in the universe but they could just turn out to be a mean, cruel b*tch.
Skippy., April 16th, 2007 at 03:14:47am
True. But some people sure do SEEM perfect
adrea, April 16th, 2007 at 02:55:14am
Yes but, nobody is perfect because nobody can live up to everybodies expectations, Not one single person meets the criteria of everybody out there.
So when you can accept someone with their faults and still see their "faults" as part of their personality, they can be perfect to you.
Perfection is really hard thing to define when you think about it. But flaws and faults, weknessess and failures really make the person, and a person can be perfect to someone, but not everyone.
I love how Billie swears and smokes, and did drugs, because its Billie. It's just the way he is.
Ilove dumbledore because he makes mistakes that are worth making.. that and he's a fictional character with extremely cool gadgets.
The inner disagreements and politics carry us to where we stand, they shape our characteristic, and with most people, what you see is what you get.
Sorry if i rambled and im pretty sure I did...
waiting_a_long_time, April 16th, 2007 at 02:09:53am