Perfect Imperfection and the Art of Wabi Sabi
The last two core characteristics we explored were *High Expectations* and *Extended Grace*. And if you're anything like me, you know how easy it is to get pulled in one direction or the other.
Sometimes, we're flying high. We feel good about ourselves, our accomplishments, and the difference we're making in the world. Those are the moments when a little humility can go a long way. There is always more to learn, room to grow, and an opportunity to remember that we're all works in progress.
But more often, at least for me, the struggle goes the other way. I get caught up in the things I haven't done well enough. The mistakes I've made. The ways I could have been better, kinder, wiser, or more patient. I can focus so intently on my imperfections that I lose sight of the beautiful, amazing human being I am.
You, too?
There's a Japanese concept called *wabi-sabi* that offers a different way of seeing things. It invites us to appreciate the beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. Rather than seeing the cracks as evidence that something is broken or flawed, we can begin to see them as part of what makes something beautiful. Simon Sinek explains this concept in a short video that touches me deeply. Every time I watch it, I find myself getting emotional as I reconnect with a truth I so easily forget: I am beautiful. Not because I'm perfect, but because I'm not.
And so are you.
Over the past two years, I've become increasingly willing to share more of my personal struggles. Not because I've figured everything out, but because I'm learning that there can be something powerful in allowing ourselves to be seen as we are. The messy parts. The uncertain parts. The parts that are still healing and growing.
For a long time, I think I believed that getting to a place of self-acceptance meant finally overcoming the things I didn't like about myself. Becoming better. Getting it right. Reaching some imagined point where I could look in the mirror and say, *There. Now you're enough.*
But I no longer think that's the point.
Maybe instead of finally conquering my imperfections, the accomplishment is to love myself while they are still there. Maybe courage isn't in presenting a polished version of myself to the world, but in letting people see the real one. And maybe by doing that for myself, it encourages others to do it for themselves.
I know that sharing more of myself hasn't magically erased my insecurities. But it has created opportunities for connection with other perfect imperfect human beings. And it has helped me practice something I want to get better at: extending to myself the same grace I so readily offer others.
Maybe that's where Perfect Imperfection lives.
Not in abandoning our high expectations or giving ourselves a free pass when we have room to grow. Not in pretending our mistakes don't matter. But in recognizing that we can be a work in progress and a beautiful work of art at the very same time.
We can take responsibility for our shortcomings without allowing them to define us. We can celebrate our accomplishments without believing we've arrived. We can keep growing without postponing self-love until we've finally become the person we think we should be.
High Expectations. Extended Grace. Perfect Imperfection.
Perhaps the real invitation is to hold all three together.
To keep reaching.
To keep forgiving.
And to remember that we don't have to earn the right to love ourselves.
We are already worthy of that love.
Even now. Especially now.
What might change if you stopped waiting to be a better version of yourself before loving the person you are today?
Namaste,
Barbara Lee
Experi-Mentor
Barbara@MomentumCenterGH.org
