One of my favorite things about Pinterest is all of the phrases and quotes that you can find. I'm a words gal, so I find myself "pinning" sayings quite often. A good quote can have me thinking and pondering for awhile. When someone can word something so eloquently, and articulate what I know and feel to be true, but didn't know how to put into words myself, I am deeply moved.
Words are so powerful.
That's why when I found this gem the other day I immediately
"repinned" it. I've been thinking about it ever since.
Words are so powerful.
That's why when I found this gem the other day I immediately
"repinned" it. I've been thinking about it ever since.
I guess this can go back to the comparison post I wrote during the "Identity Games" series from earlier this month, but as I thought deeply about these words, I realized I'm thinking about a lot more when I read this quote.
Letting go of the idea or expectation of "perfect" is really hard. The quote is absolutely correct. But, what I've found is that living and striving to be perfect, binds you. It limits your creativity, your intellect, your possibilities, and your self-expression. I think every one's definition of "perfect" is different, because we all want different things, but the pursuit is the same in all of us. We strive to attain what we see as being "ideal" and put so much effort to becoming a certain way.
The problem with that is perfection is one-sided and generic. It's painfully never-ending.
If you are constantly pursuing a generic ideal, everything else that makes you, you, falls to the wayside. You become entrenched in the pursuit of something that doesn't exist anyway, and lose "you," since there's no such thing as perfect.
I like that the author of this quote referred to becoming yourself as "work." You know why? Because it's absolutely true. You don't just all of the sudden know everything there is to know about yourself. You have to work for it, and at it.
You have to take the time to discover what's made you who you are up until this point in your life, and do lots of dissecting.
Have you ever done a puzzle? They take a lot of time to do.
I feel like we are puzzles, each piece representing unique parts of us- experiences that we've had, relationships in our lives, pain we've walked through, joy and hope that's propelled us, dreams, fears, aspirations, etc. All of those pieces of us have shapes, edges, dimensions, and colors of their own that need to be looked at closely to find where they fit in to the bigger picture of "self." When you take the time to do that with each piece, and start fitting them together one at a time, you get depth and perspective. As you discover each puzzle piece, you discover crucial parts to the whole picture.
I don't particularly enjoy doing puzzles, but even I know how much work goes into putting one together. Just like putting yourself together, It takes work to find each piece of our self and then put it in context to a bigger picture...but the bigger picture of "self" is beautiful. We all have depth, we all have experiences-puzzles pieces that help make up who we are, and unique to us. Putting yourself together requires a lot out of you, and will take a lifetime. But, don't let that scare you because being yourself brings wholeness, and freedom from the chains of perfection. It's absolutely liberating to love discovering "you" no matter how long it takes.
Each piece of your puzzle is colorful, and has profound meaning to your overall self.
You don't do a 1000 piece puzzle overnight. It's a process. You work in stages. You start on certain areas of the puzzle, then move to new parts as each section comes together. You can't just snap your fingers and magically have the entire puzzle finished. We're no different. Putting ourselves together is life long, and each thing we discover about ourselves builds on the other parts, and ultimately puts together a lovely big picture of "you."
But what would happen if you all you wanted to do was put together a puzzle of all gray circle pieces, because that's what you thought would make the final product look or feel the best? You would end up with a million circles next to each other that are all identical. They may make look nice and clean, but would ultimately just resemble an undefined, empty gray structure at the end.
The thing about a circle puzzle is that there are no edges, there's no way to ever know that you are complete. No one would ever create a circle puzzle. You can just keep stacking and stacking, and you'll never be creating anything other than gray circles.
This picture is a good illustration
Do you see those gaps in between the circles? See how the circles don't fit together in a way that creates a cohesive and seamless picture? Those gaps can represent the emptiness and loneliness you can still feel even when you are trying to create a perfect picture of "self." The pictures may look pretty and clean, but it actually doesn't fit together all that well.
The gray circles are obviously the idea and pursuit of perfection. You can keep trying this and that to achieve some final goal that you think will look great and symmetrical, but it's never going to end, and it's going to be filled with lots of gaps. There will always be someone or something else that requires you to put another circle on since perfection is always measured against someone or something external. Your puzzle will never be anything other than gray when you are searching for perfection externally versus becoming who you really are, and looking internally.
I love the puzzle picture below
It's a masterpiece. It's completely cohesive and seamless. There is dimension, color, vibrancy, depth, meaning, and most of all, there is a story.
. When all we do is put together a puzzle of "self" that consists of gray circles because that's what we see as "ideal", or seems easiest, there's no story, and no dimension, because perfect is boring. "Perfect" gray circles are everywhere, and there will always be more to pile on.
I want to be working towards finding and dissecting pieces of myself that exist within a grand scheme of who I am, instead of taking so much energy finding gray circles that are generic and everywhere. I always want to be willing to put in the work to "become myself."
I want to be that puzzle of the gorgeous fall trees.
We need each other, too. Sometimes a puzzle is more fun when you're doing it with someone you enjoy. Whether that's a friend, a spouse, or a family member, having people to do the puzzle with you gives you more eyes, and more wisdom as to where a piece goes and why.
We're not meant to do the puzzle of our life alone.
As anything else I've written and talked about, I'm preaching to myself first. This has been my journey the last year, especially, and it's been eye opening to me, so these words are coming from a place of encouragement and hope for you that you would experience the freedom in finding parts of yourself that put things in perspective a little bit more. AND a reminder to myself to keep pursuing me, and not empty ideals.
So get going already. Start becoming yourself.
~Jessica
Letting go of the idea or expectation of "perfect" is really hard. The quote is absolutely correct. But, what I've found is that living and striving to be perfect, binds you. It limits your creativity, your intellect, your possibilities, and your self-expression. I think every one's definition of "perfect" is different, because we all want different things, but the pursuit is the same in all of us. We strive to attain what we see as being "ideal" and put so much effort to becoming a certain way.
The problem with that is perfection is one-sided and generic. It's painfully never-ending.
If you are constantly pursuing a generic ideal, everything else that makes you, you, falls to the wayside. You become entrenched in the pursuit of something that doesn't exist anyway, and lose "you," since there's no such thing as perfect.
I like that the author of this quote referred to becoming yourself as "work." You know why? Because it's absolutely true. You don't just all of the sudden know everything there is to know about yourself. You have to work for it, and at it.
You have to take the time to discover what's made you who you are up until this point in your life, and do lots of dissecting.
Have you ever done a puzzle? They take a lot of time to do.
I feel like we are puzzles, each piece representing unique parts of us- experiences that we've had, relationships in our lives, pain we've walked through, joy and hope that's propelled us, dreams, fears, aspirations, etc. All of those pieces of us have shapes, edges, dimensions, and colors of their own that need to be looked at closely to find where they fit in to the bigger picture of "self." When you take the time to do that with each piece, and start fitting them together one at a time, you get depth and perspective. As you discover each puzzle piece, you discover crucial parts to the whole picture.
I don't particularly enjoy doing puzzles, but even I know how much work goes into putting one together. Just like putting yourself together, It takes work to find each piece of our self and then put it in context to a bigger picture...but the bigger picture of "self" is beautiful. We all have depth, we all have experiences-puzzles pieces that help make up who we are, and unique to us. Putting yourself together requires a lot out of you, and will take a lifetime. But, don't let that scare you because being yourself brings wholeness, and freedom from the chains of perfection. It's absolutely liberating to love discovering "you" no matter how long it takes.
Each piece of your puzzle is colorful, and has profound meaning to your overall self.
You don't do a 1000 piece puzzle overnight. It's a process. You work in stages. You start on certain areas of the puzzle, then move to new parts as each section comes together. You can't just snap your fingers and magically have the entire puzzle finished. We're no different. Putting ourselves together is life long, and each thing we discover about ourselves builds on the other parts, and ultimately puts together a lovely big picture of "you."
But what would happen if you all you wanted to do was put together a puzzle of all gray circle pieces, because that's what you thought would make the final product look or feel the best? You would end up with a million circles next to each other that are all identical. They may make look nice and clean, but would ultimately just resemble an undefined, empty gray structure at the end.
The thing about a circle puzzle is that there are no edges, there's no way to ever know that you are complete. No one would ever create a circle puzzle. You can just keep stacking and stacking, and you'll never be creating anything other than gray circles.
This picture is a good illustration
Do you see those gaps in between the circles? See how the circles don't fit together in a way that creates a cohesive and seamless picture? Those gaps can represent the emptiness and loneliness you can still feel even when you are trying to create a perfect picture of "self." The pictures may look pretty and clean, but it actually doesn't fit together all that well.
The gray circles are obviously the idea and pursuit of perfection. You can keep trying this and that to achieve some final goal that you think will look great and symmetrical, but it's never going to end, and it's going to be filled with lots of gaps. There will always be someone or something else that requires you to put another circle on since perfection is always measured against someone or something external. Your puzzle will never be anything other than gray when you are searching for perfection externally versus becoming who you really are, and looking internally.
I love the puzzle picture below
 |
| A real 500 piece puzzle I found |
It's a masterpiece. It's completely cohesive and seamless. There is dimension, color, vibrancy, depth, meaning, and most of all, there is a story.
. When all we do is put together a puzzle of "self" that consists of gray circles because that's what we see as "ideal", or seems easiest, there's no story, and no dimension, because perfect is boring. "Perfect" gray circles are everywhere, and there will always be more to pile on.
I want to be working towards finding and dissecting pieces of myself that exist within a grand scheme of who I am, instead of taking so much energy finding gray circles that are generic and everywhere. I always want to be willing to put in the work to "become myself."
I want to be that puzzle of the gorgeous fall trees.
We need each other, too. Sometimes a puzzle is more fun when you're doing it with someone you enjoy. Whether that's a friend, a spouse, or a family member, having people to do the puzzle with you gives you more eyes, and more wisdom as to where a piece goes and why.
We're not meant to do the puzzle of our life alone.
As anything else I've written and talked about, I'm preaching to myself first. This has been my journey the last year, especially, and it's been eye opening to me, so these words are coming from a place of encouragement and hope for you that you would experience the freedom in finding parts of yourself that put things in perspective a little bit more. AND a reminder to myself to keep pursuing me, and not empty ideals.
So get going already. Start becoming yourself.
~Jessica
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