I have a friend, living in a small Mexican village, who recently told me a story about Casi Perfecto! or Almost Perfect!. A friend of his had hired a local seamstress to make full length curtains to hang across a long bank of windows. Days and then weeks went by and still she hadn’t finished them. At last, a month or two later, she arrived with her bundle, smiling broadly.
When they were all hung, each panel was a different length, not one was even or matched the other. Standing back to admire her work, the seamstress clapped her hands to her bosom and enthusiastically declared, “Casi Perfecto!” Almost Perfect! Who could argue?
I found this story delightful and a wonderfully vivid illustration of how much easier it is to live and love in a culture that not only allows and accepts that things are not perfect or certain, but embraces that reality.
If I truly take Casi Perfecto! to heart as I intend to, I will no longer worry about the fact that every word I write will not be profound and meaningful. That my stories won’t be enjoyed by everyone. That I won’t be productive every day or even every week (or month!) That the life I have chosen isn’t accepted by those who mean the most to me. Indeed, that life on earth may not proceed, progress and improve for the billions of us still believing and hoping so.
At the moment we are still here and we can still choose how to perceive and champion the life we’ve been graced or burdened with. There are problems galore and nothing is perfect. Anne Lamott, was quoted as saying, “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane."
Can we live with the bargain we’ve made with ourselves to be the best we can imagine without crumbling in despair that we quite simply may never achieve our best? Because I find myself hampered by these thoughts I’m reminded of another quote that serves to quell that anxiety a wee bit, this one offered by Henry James. He wrote, “Excellence does not require perfection”. To this I attached many !!!!! Why can’t we be Casi Perfecto! as we are and where we stand and make that OK?
If I truly take Casi Perfecto! to heart as I intend to, then I will be ever more mindful of the beauty of the moment, the pleasure of the company, the effort made, the best intention behind the action, that the way I perceive things is the way they are for me and not necessarily so for any other.
I choose to live my life as Casi Perfecto! and at least for me, the journey is easier and more pleasurable when I lay down the heavy yoke that striving for perfectionism wrought.
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