Living With Paradox Part 4

image credit: Inalaf

The perfection of imperfection

One of my hobbies is to work with watercolors in a technique called Wet on Wet. For me it is entertaining as well as an inspiring spiritual experience. It is an exercise in letting go to whatever wants to happen and acceptance of the outcome. There is no control, you have an idea of what you want but the paint and wet paper will just do its thing, and however it turns out in its imperfection is perfect, and it is always beautiful. This is a lot like life.

In Part 3 of this series on Living With Paradox, the importance of accepting imperfection to maintain the rhythm of change and creativity towards wholeness was discussed. I once read somewhere, “Life is a work in progress.” I like this attitude! To me, this means that whatever we do is open-ended, it’s never going to end until life ends for us. To create something perfectly means that no more creativity can take place. If what is created is already perfect, then perfection implies an end. No more room for change.

One of my teachers always punctuated what she completed with, “Good enough for now!” This simple statement is an affirmation that you have done your best for who you are and what you know, at the present time. It gives permission to accept that whatever you have done is perfect as it is for right now. Maybe later on, when you are a little wiser and more capable, you may be able to do things differently. This permission statement takes a whole lot of stress out of trying to be perfect.

Perfection is an illusion.  I can hear you saying, “But what about athletes for instance, who are always striving to break their records, isn’t that OK?” Since we can only do what we are capable of, striving for perfection is to reach the unattainable in the present. An athlete can visualize a probable future in which she is breaking her present record and together with training she can actualize that capability in the future. She would be doing what she is capable of from her growth and learning in the NOW of her future. She can then say, “Good enough for now!”

The Taoist Taiji symbol represents an ancient Chinese understanding of unity in duality, a symbol of how things work. It is the co-existence of polarities. The outer circle represents the entirety of perceivable phenomena, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two principles or aspects, called “yin” (black) and “yang” (white). Yin is passive in nature and Yang is active. Each of them contains an element or seed of the other, and they cannot exist without each other. The Yin and yang aspects are in dynamic equilibrium. As one aspect declines, the other increases to an equal degree. This symbol represents constant change which is the nature of all phenomena in life.

All life is impermanent, it is always changing. There is no stasis, no perfection! Trying to be perfect is to reach for the impossible. We are doomed to be imperfect! Only the gods are perfect; at least that’s what indigenous crafts people think, by intentionally adding a flaw to their finished work. Living with imperfection is to embrace life in all its changing aspects, to live with paradox in the ever changing dance of creation!

To be continued.