This I believe: Perfectly Imperfect

imperfection

imperfection

I am imperfect. I have flaws on the inside and out. My hair isn’t straight, nor will it ever be. I have done things of which I am not proud. I am imperfect.

Perfection is a thing that we have created as a guideline for how everyone should look, act, and feel. Women are supposed to be thin, and have long hair, and listen to their husbands–speaking of which, women should be married by a certain age. Men are supposed to be muscular and strong, and never cry or show vulnerability. All of this is what we find ourselves trying to be, yet we are not.

As I mentioned before, I know for a fact that I am imperfect; I am too pale and my hair is too messy, and where there should be perfectly manicured nails, there are jagged edges because when I am anxious I bite them. I am a control freak. I also have a temper that threatens to flare for the better part of most days, because I get frustrated with myself when I don’t do things perfectly. I am a perfectionist who thinks that she is incompetent when she doesn’t know how to do math, and pushes herself harder and harder to be better at something she is already good at. But all of that imperfection makes me who I am.

Imperfection lives in us all, and I don’t see why embarrassment has to slap our cheeks red whenever we say the wrong thing, or whenever we don’t look a certain way. It is like apologising for who we are, like we expect there to be left over bodies that are there for the taking in case we screw up the first version of ourselves.

But I believe that our imperfection makes us beautiful. That our imperfection makes each of us different. Unique. I believe that everyone came out flawed on the other side of the assembly line, but instead of being recalled we were declared ‘human’.

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8 thoughts on “This I believe: Perfectly Imperfect

  1. Dear Hope,
    First off, I love, love, your simple sentences. Each sentence creates impact and even though the nature of the sentences is abrupt, somehow it sill works. And I cannot get over how you’re so confident in your imperfections. Additionally, that last sentence is just…wow. Incredible. That was the perfect finish for me. Arguably the problem in today’s society, just as you said, is that we’re not confident in who we are. Warped and shaped so much by the things around us it becomes impossible sometimes to recall who we really are. And you managed to convey that perfectly. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but your short sentences in my mind seemed to symbolized our ever shifting opinions. As well as the agitation that often surrounds an individual in regards to if they’re “right” for society.
    If I could offer a suggestion it would be this, maybe branch out a little more into societal views. Because in my mind, even if you hadn’t written those things about yourself I still would have been able to sense your presence in the piece. That’s not to say that those details are not at important. They are absolutely important. In fact by adding them you have created a new dimension to the piece. Other then that though, I really can’t offer any more suggestions. Sometimes I think pieces just speak for themselves and yours does a wonderful job of leaving the reader pretty pleased with what they read.
    One question I would like to ask is when you’re surrounded by individuals who consistently tell you to change, tell you that who you are is not what you’re supposed to be, what do you say to them? How do you keep grounded in who you are and not give in to society’s demands?

    Sincerely,
    -Sara

  2. Dear Hope,

    Your blog is absolutely beautiful and so easy to relate to. I used to always have an inferiority complex to other girls growing up because I was really fat when I was younger. You made an absolutely wonderful statement saying “…our imperfection makes us beautiful. That our imperfection makes each of us different. Unique.”
    That line in itself was so divine and induced a bit of emotion in me because it reminded me of my childhood. Your blog is a simple protest of the nature of society today, and I adore it.
    I loved that you gave your own personal examples of how the topic affected you directly. The source of media you chose for the blog was visually beautiful and just added a good feel to the topic. Your writing style and the narration was great: you created a sense of being comfortable with the audience and had excellent use of short sentences; they were very effective in adding power to the piece.
    Your paragraph leading to the conclusion, and your conclusion itself were wonderful; it felt complete and I could see that you had great sentence structure.
    There were only 2 things I noticed.
    I did this with a previous blog I commented on and it was counting the words (you had around 333). I don’t count them on purpose, but when I read something I really like and I find out how short it is it really upsets me. In your case however, although it was a short blog, everything connected very well and it felt complete. I wish it could have been extended a bit, I would have loved to read more! 😀
    One last thing is quotes: there weren’t any. I’m not sure if it was a requirement or not, but if you had added 1 or 2 it would have added flavor to your blog and maybe through a quote you would have found more to write about.
    Overall, AWESOME BLOG HOPE! Can’t wait to read more of yours in the future! 🙂
    Have a great weekend! ♥

    Sincerely,
    Timi

  3. Dear Hope,

    Every has insecurity, and nobody is perfect, that is one reason I love your This I believe, it is relatable. I really enjoy your use of simple sentences, because it is so easy to understand (and I am lazy). Anyway this is a really inspiringly honest blog post thanks for writing it.

    -Joel

  4. Hope:

    This is not an in-depth comment, but I just wanted to say that this post made me think… a lot.

    By the way, why is not having straight hair an imperfection? All hair is awesome!

    ~Areeb

  5. Sara,

    Thank you so much for your beautiful comment!! This response is long overdue and for that I am sincerely sorry.

    In your comment, you asked me, what I say when faced with people who tell me to change, and how I keep grounded in who I am and not give in to society’s demands; let me just first say that this is a phenomenal question, and part of why it took me so long to reply to this was because I didn’t have an answer for you. Honestly, when people tell me that I need to change who I am, there are a few things that I take into consideration before giving my response; 1. Who they are. If they are someone who I love and cherish their opinion, then I might be more inclined to listen to what they have to say. 2. Why they are telling me to change. If someone is telling me to change just because they don’t like me, I honestly have no place in my life for them. But if they are telling me to change something about myself because they truly care about me, I might more readily do as they wish. 3. Whether or not I am ready for change. Having people tell you that you need to change is all very well, but if you don’t want to change, or aren’t ready to, then it is just not going to happen. To be honest, for the most part, if people don’t like the way that I am, I don’t really care. I don’t have the time or energy to waste on changing myself in ten billion ways just to appease ten billion different people.

    As for staying grounded. . . Honestly, I don’t know. I think that part of it is that I try to shelter myself from the harsh criticisms that society has to offer, because I don’t need more criticism on top of what I give myself. I definitely think that if one is part of a community (Drama, sports teams, etc), then it is easier to resist the demands that society places on us daily. Feeling as though you belong is really important if you want to be true to who you are, because it is always reassuring to know that at the end of the day, no matter what happens, you will always have people who love you for who you are, regardless of your idiosyncrasies that might bother the rest of the world.

    Thank you again for your kind words–I truly appreciate your comment, and the fact that you read my blog. Sorry again that this is so late!

    Infinite love and gratitude,
    Hope

  6. Timi,

    Thank you so much for your comment!! I am very grateful that you even wanted to read my blog, let alone comment on it! (I am so sorry that this is coming in so late!)

    You mentioned having an inferiority complex to other girls growing up, and I completely understand this as I had and still have one as well. I think that it is unfortunate that societal values and beliefs push beautiful girls to believe that they are ‘ugly’ just because they don’t look like someone else who is considered to be ‘perfect’. I think that we all need to learn to appreciate ourselves, and embrace our imperfections, because we are all beautiful in our own ways. Beauty is just something that the human race has made up. You can’t define beauty; it walks without definition–whether that be inside or outside of us. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is also beauty in everything, and with it comes perfection, and with that, imperfection. That is the way of life.

    Thank you so much once again for your beautiful comment and thoughtful words!!

    Infinite love and gratitude,
    Hope

  7. Joel,

    I am so sorry that I am replying to this so late, but thank you for your comment!!

    I really appreciate the fact that you took time out of your day to read my blog, and I am so humbled by your kind words.

    Infinite love and gratitude,
    Hope

  8. Areeb,

    I am so sorry that I am replying to this so very late, but thank you for your comment!

    While I do agree that not having straight hair can be awesome, I must say this; one day, if you ever grow your hair, and you wake up with it all knotted and messy, you as well shall envy the lucky people who wake up with perfectly straight hair every morning.

    Thanks again!!

    Infinite love and gratitude,
    Hope

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