Perfection / Imperfection

We are always eager to project the perfect side of ourselves in public. The perfect family living in a perfect home, stepping out with the perfectly made-up face and presenting the image of a perfectly groomed self. The person that has got everything together, the perfect supermum or the perfect single woman who juggles careers, family / children / relationships with the ease of a supercool woman. We want a perfect holiday. We want a perfect wedding. Even when we have our photographs taken in expensive studios, we want to appear perfect, to the extent of being professionally airbrushed. We want perfection. We crave for perfection. We strive for perfection.

As opposed to perfection, we have trouble dealing with imperfections. We cannot bear the thought of a stubborn zit on our cheeks, and spend sleepless nights agonising over it, especially when there's a function for us to attend. We tend to place our entire focus on that tiny, miserable zit, and allow it to spoil an otherwise enjoyable function. We smile and play happy families in public despite quarrelling with the spouse or getting frustrated at the children just half an hour before. We clean the house yet again even though our houses are clean when we are expecting guests, just so that the guests might not see a ( barely-there anyway ) film of dust resting on the coffee table.

We distance ourselves from the imperfect. The disfigured man gets a grimace and a sympathetic shrug thrown in his direction, or people will simply avert their eyes in embarrassment and quicken their footsteps. We throw dirty looks at homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks. We turn our faces at society's ills. By pretending that it doesn't exist, we hope that it will not affect our perfect lives.

But why is perfection so important to us? Why can't we accept that imperfection is actually part of perfection? There can be no perfection if there is no imperfection. What is the factor that forces us to be so obsessed with perfection?

Perfection is an illusion that hides the decays of imperfection. We polish the good parts till it glitters to show the world and stow away the bad in dark recesses. It is a farce of human nature used to bolster up our own self image. Perfection binds our spirit and gradually suffocates us. In placing too much emphasis on how the world sees us, we gradually become neurotic. We think the world is laughing at us when we slip up, when in actuality the world will not notice our slip ups as it is too busy being preoccupied with its own pursuits of perfection.

By obsessing over the expectations of perfection, we lose our perceptions and direction. We forget that there are more important things in life. In winning the race for perfection, we'll end up the big time loser. Spiritually and psychologically.