“A beautiful thing is never perfect.” ~Proverb
The vintage couch pillows that don’t even slightly match. The homemade scarf that’s a little too long and yet just the right size. The worn T-shirt that looks like trash but holds too much nostalgia to toss. The hand-made card depicting a child’s version of a happy family—not even slightly realistic and yet precise in all the right ways.
Imperfect beauty surrounds us, and without realizing it, we also own it, with our diverse colors, shapes, sizes, and smiles; in our varying tastes, skills, perceptions, and quirks.
All those little things that make us completely different despite our universal sameness endow us with a beauty we’d never choose to lose if only we could recognize it. That seems to be the hard part: realizing that because the paintings of our lives are a few strokes away from perfect, we are so undeniably beautiful.
The things we see as flaws are often just a reminder we are whole and wholly unique.
If you choose to do something to improve yourself today, which in itself is a positive thing, remember: you have a lot less to change than you think.
photo by linh.ngan
About Lori Deschene
Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She started the site after struggling with depression, bulimia, c-PTSD, and toxic shame so she could recycle her former pain into something useful and inspire others to do the same. You can find her books, including Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal and Tiny Buddha’s Worry Journal, here and learn more about her eCourse, Recreate Your Life Story, if you’re ready to transform your life and become the person you want to be.
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Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 
Lori and Karen, this was great! I was journaling this morning after trying to put up some shelves in my closet and wanting it to be just perfect. I kept thinking of what my dad would say, and I felt this need to be so careful, he can be mean and scary when he gets mad…I’m 31 now and you know what? I pushed his voice to the side and listened to mine instead. My last sentence in my journal was that “I was okay” – thank you for this post!
Love,
Nancy Urena
Hi Nancy,
I can relate in such a big way! I am also 31, and I also have memories of a parent convincing nothing was good enough. Now I have picture frames on my wall that aren’t precisely spaced and I remind myself they don’t need to be! They’re slightly off and it’s totally OK =)
Lori
It’s uncanny how much this message is showing up in my life. I just wrote a post about embracing the REAL me, which sort of got lost in the last few years of what I call “seriosity,” and I’ve been playing the idea of a year long authenticity event thing on my blog, and since I began thinking about it, this message has been flooding in from all directions. The universe is going “woo hoo.” 🙂 I love your examples in the first paragraph. It’s the “imperfect” things that are most interesting and that we treasure the most. Isn’t that interesting. 🙂