"Perfection in Imperfection"

So here I go thinking that I had a great thought about finding "perfection" in "imperfection;" and of course many have already written about it. Oh, well. So many of our ideas and thoughts have already been thought of by someone else. Isn't it amazing? It must be true that we're all connected to one another. So many times we tap into that outer (or inner?) dimension of creativity, ideas, and great thoughts; that what we countless times think are our own unique ideas, are not really "ours;" they have already been taken or written about or expressed by others. Nowadays it's easy to check, we can just Google our thoughts and ideas and discover if others have written about them. Is anything "original" any more?

I punched "Perfection in Imperfection" in Google and found some very interesting websites. The first one, http://www.spiritual-happiness.com/sosh36.html, introduced me to a book written by Sharon Janis ("Secrets of Spiritual Happiness") that seems to be worth reading. The web page starts with the following quote by Michelangelo: "The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection" - what a great quote! I particularly love the last paragraph on that page:

"The awareness of perfection in imperfection is an inner knowing, an inner trust, and a soothing place of inner rest. We all know this perfection deep inside, because we are all one with the universal flow of perfection deep inside. It is like a thread, and we are all like beads on that one thread. Everything in this whole magnificent universe - from the tiniest revolving electrons to massive exploding galaxies - is strung on this thread of universal perfection. When you know that you too are an integral element of this amazing dance of universal perfection, then spiritual happiness is in your hand - and you are in the hand of spiritual happiness." (Beautifully expressed!)

I'm always struggling with my "perfectionism" and my challenge has always been to learn to just let go and relax; to remember that nothing and no one is truly perfect. We have to learn to live with imperfect things and imperfect people (and our imperfect selves), there's no other way. Another important lesson is to accept that we're not always right, we are not perfect, we all make mistakes. In fact thinking and believing that we're always right is an arrogant stance.

I also discovered that Carole Straw wrote a book with that title: "Perfection in Imperfection" (about Gregory The Great). I disagree with Gregory's belief that change is bad: "Change is deeply disturbing, for it represents a lack of control over the chaotic forces that can shatter man's integrity and destroy his freedom." I cannot disagree more, change is imperative... in my opinion (humble opinion) it must be an integral part of our human condition. I believe we must accept our faults and weaknesses - our imperfections - and, whenever possible, try to change for the better... try to improve ourselves. In fact, the biggest challenge we face in this world is to work on the improvement of one's self, thus becoming better human beings (and better spiritual beings). Then again, I only read a small section of the book "Perfection in Imperfection" (in Google), so I'm not going to pretend that I'm prepared or have the authority to contradict his beliefs - I'm just expressing my immediate thoughts on the matter. Besides, it can just be that I interpret change differently. To Gregory The Great "reason" must rule one's life if we want to be closer to God, and "change" is the opposite of reason. He considers "change" a representation of matter and physical existence, and in his view these are evil. He came to view the world as clearly divided into realms of purity and impurity, the righteous and the unclean; the righteous, in his belief, must retain a sense of separateness.

I personally believe that we can be "reasonable" people while embracing "change" with open arms, and accepting the "differences" amongst our human family while working "together" - not in "separate" ways - even when we have to follow our own path. We shouldn't feel that we're "better" than others, we're all here at different levels of spiritual growth. Change is necessary for our existence. We can embrace "reason" and still believe that "change" is always necessary! Even if we believe that we are spirits in a material world, we chose to be here for a special reason (probably many reasons) - to learn many lessons and become better "spiritual beings." Change is essential to grow... We must keep an "open mind" and "united" improve our world and improve ourselves. What I want to note here, anyway, is that many others gave this topic a lot of thought already. Very interesting indeed! Maybe many of us struggle with this same challenge, just like I do. Many of us are trying to be "perfect" in an "imperfect" world. Are you one of us?

Beyond Perls...

When I was 15 years old or so - I could have been 16 or 17 - I thought the following poem ("Gestalt Prayer") was really cool; so I wrote it down in one of my notebooks:

I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you and I am I;
If by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful
If not, it can’t be helped.

(The Original “Gestalt Prayer” by Fritz Perls, 1969)

A couple of years ago I found Walter Tubbs' response to this so-called “Gestalt Prayer”:

BEYOND PERLS

If I just do my thing and you do yours,
We stand in danger of losing each other
And ourselves.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations;
But I am in this world to confirm you
As a unique human being,
And to be confirmed by you.

We are fully ourselves only in relation to each other;
The I detached from a Thou
Disintegrates.

I do not find you by chance;
I find you by an active life
Of reaching out.

Rather than passively letting things happen to me,
I can act intentionally to make them happen.

I must begin with myself, true;
But I must not end with myself:
The truth begins with two.

(Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 17, No. 3, 77-79)

I now prefer Walter Tubbs version; but let's think for a moment about the differences between the two... In my opinion, the first version sounds a little too selfish. "I do my thing and you do your thing." "You are you and I am I." Of course we're all very different in many ways; but at the same time, we're very much alike. Ideally, we should concentrate in one another's similarities, in those things that unite us instead of the things that divide us; because as human beings we have a lot in common, even though history some times tells us a different story. There have been many wars through our human history; and we are still at war in many countries. We fight with others, others fight with us, and others fight with others. There's always a lot of division amongst nations, prejudice against different religions and/or different races, intolerance, lack of compassion and understanding - division, division, division...

So, I agree with what Tubbs writes, which could be summarized as follows: even though we are not here to live up to the expectations of others, we must "confirm" one another, just as we need others to "confirm" us. We need to value others, and we need others to value us (and we need to value ourselves as well). We need to work "together" and expect the best from one another (and the best from ourselves). We need to work as team players, united, together, with a vision towards a common goal: which should be PEACE!

We should relate to one another, reassure one another, find common ground. We must reach out to others, and appreciate and respect them, no matter what their beliefs are. We should not be so judgmental, so critical and so arrogant - believing or pretending that we are better than they are or that we're always right. Let's find peaceful ways to solve our conflicts, peaceful ways to communicate. We have the power to make things happen. We shouldn't stand or sit still just waiting for others to take action, change starts with ourselves. It's certainly better to work together!