The Perfection of Imperfection

Inbetween Christmas and New Year I had the huge pleasure of gifting myself a morning of “Forest Bathing and Writing” in the woods with the brilliant Jeanine of Nature Connect NW. ( highly recommend!) After some very special time observing all the splendour of nature around us, being greeted by a buzzard swooping overhead, some reflection on our creative endeavours, poetry and a very good brew, we were sent to find our muse and write for ourselves. Jeanine pointed out a particular tree as being one of her favourites, inviting us to go and say hello.

“If you look closely at a tree you’ll notice it’s knots and dead branches, just like our bodies. What we learn is that beauty and imperfection go together wonderfully” Matthew Fox

As I stood there looking at this tree, I was struck by a very pertinent reminder. She was so “imperfect”. Obviously perfection is objective, but I was observing bare branches, a trunk split into many different smaller sections, wavy, wiggly offshoots and a personality all her own. Not one notion of regularity anywhere. She was breath-taking in her splendour.

It got me to thinking – if she were “perfect”, if those branches were regular, just how wrong she would look, and what a dull experience looking at her would be. I thought of the silver birch’s that they wash to pure white in a National Trust garden I once visited, and looked over to the myriad of colours on the similar trunks next to me. What a wasted opportunity by that garden to embrace the beauty of these colours, texture and hues!

It’s so easy for us to reach to be something, and berate ourselves when we are not. Its so easy to want to wash away all those differences, and stay hidden away, to blend into our surroundings. What is it that makes it so hard for us to shine in all our imperfect perfection?

There are all different reasons for each of us, and moving positively towards “being better”, on our own terms, can always be seen as a good thing. But how would it feel to celebrate ourselves every day, our imperfections making us the vibrant individuals that we are, our differences making the World a better place?

January is the time of new beginnings, reaching for new opportunities and perhaps making changes to improve ourselves with better habits. If we fall off this cycle, our thoughts can be pretty harsh and negative towards ourselves.

Here are some important reminders:

Reasons to be Cheerful part 1:

Every breath is an opportunity for a new beginning, not just Jan 1st.

Blue Monday is not only a “miserable” day in January, it is also a stonking track by New Order

From now on, we gain a tangible amount of daylight every day towards Summer Solstice. It’ll be Spring before you know it.

Spring is another good time for New Starts should you wish, as is Imbolc/Candlemas at the beginning of February.

Go outside and look carefully. There are shoots coming up, buds fit to burst on the trees, and catkins decorating the hazel. There is renewal all around. It is incredibly supportive, and wonderfully imperfect.

There is only one you

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”  Theodore Roosevelt (apparently, but it seems there’s some debate)

As we move forward into the year ahead of us, remember that comparison does not serve you. Admiration of others may inspire you, but do try not compare yourself negatively to your notion of others’ lives. They are doing them and their life is theirs, your life is yours and you are doing you. There is only one you, and you must be doing you pretty well so far, or you would not be reading this rambling blog post! (its imperfect, so therefore PERFECT)

The World needs us all in all our individuality, so Thank you for being your splendid, imperfect, perfect YOU!