The Art of Imperfection

One of the members of the rehabilitation program that I work at told me something that I thought was quite profound. He, being a very talented artist was showing me some pieces of his work. He explained to me how a friend of his did similar work, but used special tools in order to perfect it, making every single line look flawless. But then he told me how that doing that wasn't art - that something like that could be done on the computer - and that real art was about having those flaws.

That really made me think. I like to think of people as art. I mean, we are, aren't we? Each of us are outlined uniquely. We have curves. We are each pigmented uniquely. And none of us are the same. Now really, what would be the point of having airbrushed skin? Of hair that falls in exactly the right place? Having no flaws would make us products. Instead, we are all masterpieces, and we need to remember that.

It's so easy to get wrapped up in judging ourselves critically for how we look. It's especially easy to do when we are surrounded by images of models. But models that are flawless don't exist in reality. And even if they did, wouldn't they be a bit boring? There is such beauty in imperfection!

Just a concept to ponder. It's so cliche to say that everyone is beautiful. But it's in fact true. We are all beautiful pieces of art work. Every single line and shape are part of that, and part of what makes us so incredible.