The back of my head is purple! Or hair, rather. Yeah, I'm that intense, I have red and purple hair.
Perfection: Over or under-rated?
If you're striving to be perfect are you doing yourself a favour or missing out on imperfection? If that's all your in it for, are you objectifying life and viewing yourself as something to improve...or are you actually living it and being the person you are? I know there is room for improvement in a life, but if that's all it's about...is it really a life?
I know I improve myself, but it isn't always conscious. I do something, and I get better at it. I learn more, I understand more. But I do it in the course of my life. And I'm most certainly not trying to be perfect. I'm aware that the word doesn't exist on a grand scale. Someone might be the perfect person for someone, but they are not in the grand scheme of things, perfect. I would rather live imperfectly then strive for something that doesn't exist. Betterment of self, yes, perfection? No.
I don't know. I'm an imperfect person, and I'm okay with that. I like my imperfections. Life is full of them, so I figure why not embrace them. It's an adventure =) And hey, you can be perfect at everything. You do what you're good at! =)
...I was going to address this in a post I was about to write. Mind thief.
ReplyDeleteReally, aside from perfection being boring (and thus imperfect), it seems to just promote falseness. It's an unreachable goal, and people feel ashamed when they can't reach it. They mistakenly feel like their worth is diminished by being not perfect, so they hide. It's kinda sad, actually.
Unlike you I consciously strive for self improvement. Perfection is unreachable, by becoming more knowledgeable I strengthen who I am as an individual. Well, no. I don't believe in a soul, self improvement is basically suicide for me. It just leaves something better behind.
PS: I need picshures.
I think our brains just travel on the same pane of existence, Mark. Regarding your first paragraph, exactly. I see so many people with so much skill who think they can't share it because it's not perfect. And perfection is boring.
ReplyDeleteI think I just wouldn't call what I do self improvement. I'm constantly learning and I love to learn and go out of my way to ask questions and learn...but I don't view it as self improvement. Or maybe that's not my goal. I just like learning! And I practice stuff I like :)
P.s. I'll add one.
I guess they do. I think you're a few miles ahead of me though.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense, but I also appreciate self improvement in general when there is no self-hate because of it.
Hurry up and do it then!
I'll be catching up, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI think we're tied, but someone gets a burst of speed now and then. Or just posts it first :) There's some on facebook! But I'll put one here too.
ReplyDeleteWe already talked extensively about this, but there's one thing I'd like to add. The whole "you do what you're good at..." to me, that always seemed like a very negative phrase. I know you don't intend it as such, but I read it as if you're not good at something, don't do it. Whereas in striving for "perfection," (as an abstract, not as a concrete thing, since we know that's a falsity), if you're not good at it and you want to do it, you strive and strive until you are good at it. This way it becomes not just "you do what you're good at" but rather "you do what you want."
ReplyDeleteAnd that of course is your perspective on it. Doing what you're good at is by no means a limiting factor. You do what you want, of course. Some things you are good at. You do them to. :) Most of the time you want to do things you're good at. It doesn't mean JUST doing what you're good at. That, sir, would be silly.
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