~ Salvador Dali
A few months ago, I swiped my friend Kristyn's Facebook post from her KP Designs page: "PERFECTION IS BORING: True or False?" And ladies, y'all have some great opinions on this.
My friend Ann who if I remember this correctly is married to a Chef (at the very least, she brags constantly about his cooking), thinks that perfection can only be found in food.
Perceived perfection is boring and bullshit. Unless, of course, you are talking about food. As for people....perfection and beauty is not found in an Instagram, a vial of Botox, or endless hours at the gym. Boring! In fact, perfection may not exist.....again, unless you are talking about food! ~ Ann
Dorothy posted that "perfection is oh so annoying and oh so unattainable. So yes, a bit boring." I can't help but think of Melville's Moby Dick in this case. Captain Ahab chasing after Moby Dick to exact revenge for not only destroying Ahab's previous boat, but causing him to lose his leg as well. To kill the whale would indeed be perfection according to Captain Ahab, who would "strike the sun if it insulted me." And yet, in his pursuit to exact the perfect revenge, Captain Ahab... well, my dad, one of the world's few Melville fans I'm sure, sums it up perfectly: Everyone dies but Ish and the Fish.
Kanye West's mother also died in her pursuit of perfection. If you don't remember the 2010 story, Donda West died of complications following cosmetic surgery. She had first been refused by a doctor because he recognized Ms. West as having a heart condition that would put her at risk of a heart attack if she underwent the tummy tuck and breast reduction surgery she wanted. He instead referred her to a cardiac surgeon, but Ms. West instead went to another plastic surgeon who performed the surgeries she wanted and the unfortunate cost of perfection for Donda West was her life. According to Wikipedia: "The final coroner's report January 10, 2008 concluded that Donda West died of 'coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty.'"
How do we reach a point where the best case scenario outcome of a voluntary cosmetic surgery, the achievement of perfection, outweighs the very real consequence of death? Whose vision of perfection are we trying to fulfill? Our own or someone elses?
I think perfection is in the eye of the beholder! And it is more about perspective. I feel my life is perfect.....for me. An outsider would surely think not!! And I do NOT believe my life is boring in the least bit - if it was it wouldn't be perfect!!!! ~ Becky
Becky's response got three thumbs up. It's a very simplistic answer to the question, and yet it really only begins to scratch the surface of a possible answer. For Kim, pondering the question led to more questions and less answers.
Interesting thought to ponder Mo... Is perfection even definable in reality? Since no one is perfect, is it possible to honestly answer the question of whether or not it is boring? I am in awe of the concept of perfection...since it's something you can consistently strive for, but never attain. I couldn't label an ideal that continuously encourages you to strive to be better tomorrow than you are today as boring. ~ Kim
But what makes us better tomorrow than we were today? Does the answer lie in Wendy's response?
I don’t think perfection would be boring. That is if everyone was perfect. I think it would be cool to always know the right things to say, never hurt anyone or get hurt, always make the right decisions, never fail and never be disappointed, ripped off, beat up or scared. You’d be free to just have fun and not worry about anything because nothing would ever go wrong. There’d be no stress. ~ Wendy
Wendy's answer immediately reminded me of the movie Pleasantville. Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are the present day children of single mom Jane Kaczmarek; Maguire is the quiet bookish sort who longs for the way of life presented on his favorite "Nick At Night" television show Pleasantville while Witherspoon is the rebellious natured wild child. "Divine" intervention leads both Maguire and Witherspoon to land right smack dab in the middle of Pleasantville. As the movie's tagline says, "Nothing is as simple as black and white."
My answer is very much in line with my cousin Kristyn's (and by the way, Kristyn and I are cousins by choice, not blood thank you very much, so don't blame genetics for our similiar thinking).
I guess the definition of perfection is definitely the question. However, I find myself appreciating life's little imperfections. I like a plan B, something unscripted. SO WHAT if my plan didn't go EXACTLY as it was on my list, was the end result successful! Am I happy? Did I make someone else happy? Those things should define perfection... Yes, perfection is defined by perspective so all levels of perfection are different. I am referring to those who strive to be "perfect" the perfect mom, the perfect dad, the perfect friend, the perfect artist, the perfect baker, the perfect human being. I believe in our quest for being perfect we may miss out on certain things that really should be appreciated. There is nothing wrong with a hair out of place once in a while. Our kids should get dirty, explore and enjoy life. Our decorations do not have to be symmetrical or be matchy-matchy - we can throw in a splash of color to add interest, and YES putting some kind of quirky piece is ok, put it off center to add an element of surprize. I find walking into a room that is "perfectly" clean, organized, designed symmetrically, monochromatically - and I think, although it's nice, it's boring (TO ME). Where's the life? I'm all for being the best YOU you can be, but there is no perfect or even right way to do things all the time. I just cannot relate to those who strive for perfection in all aspects of their life. I think they will be sadly disappointed, forever and miss out on so much. ~ Kristyn
The answers to this question vary just as much as the individual women do. Knowing my readers the way I'd like to think I do, this post will follow you much of the day as you ponder what exactly perfection may be and whether or not it's boring. And as you think about perfection and what may or may not be perfect to you, think of your own reaction to it. Whereas Kristyn and I both think that an "overly designed" house is completely boring, what would your reaction be to it? What would your reaction be if you ran into Beyonce', who was voted People's Magazine 2012 World's Most Beautiful Woman?
And here's where Megan's answer comes in handy and give us something not only to chuckle over, but to ponder.
I like to think that perfection is boring, and to quote BNL 'Anyone perfect must be lying.' Isn't it true that when we find someone to be so called perfect we will do anything and everything to find their one fault...I know I am not the only one. ~ Megan
My brains been pondering and percolating on perfection.
Posted by: Wendy Robinson | November 16, 2012 at 08:04 AM