Stand in the newsagents and look at the rows of sheeny-shiny magazines. Imploring you to do this, do that and don’t miss out on the other. Exclamation marks included!!! Inside the glossy you are welcomed to a world of picture perfect. Primped, primed and photoshopped.
Take a look at this photo of a Pink Cosmos from my garden this summer.
Beautiful. Bright and bold, pink and yellow. A colour of summer. Picture perfect?
Look again
What do you see?
I see a tear in one leaf whilst another is slightly bent over, the colour of the petals seeping and fading at the tips and there are watermarks on the petals.
I see all these things when I look at this photo.
This one flower, amongst so many others caught my attention. The slight tear in the leaf making it imperfect. To me it is Perfect yet Imperfect. It is balanced.
A mirror on life; it is both perfect and imperfect. Is there any other kind?
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Hi! I looked at this picture and thought it was perfect… I still think it is, is beautiful! Nice post 🙂
It certainly is beautiful, even if not quite perfect. But then if it didn’t have the odd imperfection, the flower wouldn’t look real. And following your analogy, we probably need the imperfections in life to be able to appreciate the really good bits!
Imperfection is perfection. But then is it imperfect? Perhaps it is just perfect just the way it is. Life would be too boring if everything was the same; grew the same, built the same, looked the same. Great post. Nice thoughts come from it. BTW how lovely it must be to view flowers like that in your garden! Lucky you!
Imperfection is much more interesting!
All things in life are imperfect, we strive to be the best we can be. There is always beauty in imperfection otherwise there would be no art.
*Perfectly* said.
xo
Real beats Perfect any day… 🙂
^ This! xx
Lovely post Claire. That little flower has a story – was it an over-zealous bee that caused the little tear? Or the wind? I love looking at my 104-year old grandma’s face for the same reason. Every one of her lines and wrinkles has a little memory etched in it. To me she is much more beautiful than a botox-filled actor.
It’s a REAL flower. Like the one in my garden (if I had these flowers in my garden) rather than the PERFECT flower of a gardening book. I like it.
Perfectly imperfect! I love crooked smiles, hook noses and flowers with torn petals! 😉
Lovely post!
that perfect world is just a little false, so we relax and breathe when we see the real everyday perfection like your pink cosmos, real, perfectly itself, perfect 🙂
I love how you’ve associated people and flowers in this post. I first saw a perfect flower overall and I think that is what matters most, the overall person or life or flower. The big picture is perfect although the details can be a little rugged. Also, on the topic of perfect flowers, ones in the garden are real, unlike the plastified versions grown in the commercial greenhouses for the commercial trade. Thinking of the sustainable flowers movement…
Oh you are so right, it is the imperfect that makes it oh so perfect.. It is in fact the ideal i think.. beautiful..c
Claire: until you began enumerating ‘faults’ it was perfect ~ after I read the short list, it still is! It is ‘normal’ and ‘beautiiful’ and that, thank God, does not aspire to ‘perfection’ 🙂 !
🙂 I think imperfect is perfect, and it looks like I’m in good company !
Beautifully stated! I’m a big Cosmo fan myself. Thanks for sharing.
Such lovely, in-the-moment, observations!
Hi Claire, beats me if I can see any tear!
Absolutely perfect observation, Claire! It’s interesting that I didn’t at first even see the imperfections. It’s gorgeous just as is. What a fabulous life analogy, my friend. Perfect thought as I begin my day. ox
“newsagents”: LOVE that term!
Imperfect is perfect when it comes to nature, isn’t it?
You know what I like about life? It’s perfectly imperfect. So am I now that I think about it!
I much prefer nature’s natural look!
Absolutely perfect.
🙂 Mandy xo
Is that the theory behind wabi-sabi? That there is greater life in the slight imperfections, I think. Thanks, Claire, great post!
How very true…slight imperfections make things real to me.
Aswith all your other commenters, I too am drawn to this. It is the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi: ‘beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.”‘
Claire, you nailed this one. Thank you for pointing out that natural beauty is not perfect, it is flawed, and that is part of its beauty. This post should be on one of those glossy mags! Dana
Life is all about taking the imperfect with the perfect as sometimes the imperfections show us that we are really human and on a flower that it is really nature. It makes us appreciate both. Have a super weekend. BAM
Absolutely perfect!
How true, how perfectly true 🙂 Imperfections make real beauty.
Claire, it would be a dull world if everything and everybody were the same, eh? Your lil’ cosmos is “perfectly” lovely as is… a few folds, wrinkles, and tears add interest, in flowers and in people.
Made me think of those tags on handmade items that say something like “the irregularities are because it is handmade and are just part of it’s charm”
I love this post, and agree with you completely about the great attraction of the imperfect… We ourselves, knowing our imperfections, are able to relate most easily to something in nature that reflects personality, and life lived…
Life becomes so much better when you give up magazines! Though I have been known to sneak a peak at my mums Vogue occasionally 🙂 Luckily we have blogs to keep it real and heave all that shite out of the way…yay, up the imperfect! Lovely post.
I love those flowers…I love the color and the sparkle actually much better than a rose!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Claire it is simply beautiful in all it’s little imperfections and that is what makes it perfect. It is the art of Wabi Sabi to perfection! What a fantastic color.
That’s how I look at humans, perfect and imperfect.
Imperfect, yet perfect. I will remember this on Sunday when we are working on restoring our ancient cabin/farmhouse. 😉
Thank you, Claire.
Just wanted to drop by again and wish you a happy holiday season in case I don’t “see” you before Christmas!
Thank you Inger, and best wishes to you and your family too x. Here’s to another wonderful year!