Celebrating My Truly Beautiful, Perfectly Imperfect Life

No one is perfect.

No one.

We all -- each and every one of us -- are perfectly imperfect.

And that, my friends, is a truth to celebrate; a comforting, freeing reminder to let go of perfectionism wherever and whenever it rears its brutal, unattainable head.

Indeed, like it or not, perfection-- no matter how hard we try -- is unattainable. Imperfection, on the other hand, is naturally occuring. Unavoidable. And, if you adhere to the wabi-sabi philosophy oflooking at life, imperfection is beautiful.

Wabi-sabi also recognizes the bittersweet impermanence of the moments of our lives.

Bottom line? It's a wabi-sabi life, brothers and sisters, and by golly, it's high time I start living it -- and enjoying it -- as such.

I know, I know...

Yesterday I was blogging about feng shui...today it's wabi-sabi...

Frankly, I fear that once my feng shui is evaluated, I will realize that I have to repaint every room, and paint is not in my budget right now. Wabi-sabi, from what I can deduce, is a more affordable life philosophy...

It's a universal ideal of beauty celebrating the basic, the unique, and the imperfect parts of our lives.

Remember the comfortable joy you felt as a child, happily singing off key? Creatively coloring outside the lines? Mispronouncing words with gusto? That, my friends, is a simple explanation of wabi-sabi.

Or, on a deeper level, wabi-sabi is "the profound awareness of our oneness with all life and the environment. It includes a deep awareness of the choices we make each day, the power we have to accept or reject each moment of our lives, and to find value in every experience."

In other words, adopting a wabi-sabi approach to life means "appreciate this and every moment, no matter how imperfect, for this moment is your life. When you reject this moment, you reject your life."

(Eeeek! How much time have I wasted rejecting my life over the years?)

That's not to say that you must settle for this moment, of course. You are, according to Gold, "free to steer a different course, but for now, this moment is yours, so be mindful to make the most of it."

Amen.

Slow down, you're movin' too fast

Ya gotta make the moment last

Just kickin' down the cobblestones

Lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy...

So just how does one live a wabi-sabi life? How does one who is caught up in the mad-dash race we call life, get to the "Imperfect Life, I love you, all is groovy" point?

More to come on wabi-sabi.