The Relief of Imperfection

Every individual person has their own take on what perfect means, and everyone has a different standard of perfection in themselves. 

So why do we find it so easy to find personal perfection in others, yet it’s nearly impossible to find it in ourselves? Oftentimes it’s because we as people create a standard for ourselves that is impossibly high to reach, while the standard on others is more approachable.

After a while you’ll find that a mindset like this only creates a negative impact, and only after realizing this will it hit you: imperfection is not a burden, it is a relief. 

Perfection will never be obtainable, especially not to ourselves, but peace and satisfaction are. 

The search for perfection has become an obsession in the modern day. The constant pressure to be perfect causes a significant overall negative impact on a mental and physical level. 

Pushing to be perfect causes increased anxiety, burnout, and a constant feeling of inadequacy. The craving for perfection creates an endless cycle of striving yet never truly achieving that “perfect” goal. 

On social media, people only post the very best versions of themselves, so it seems that nearly everyone is living a flawless life. 

This leads to a very distorted view of what the ‘normal’ is. This obsession doesn’t stop at what we see online; it extends to the idea of ‘perfect’ families and, most concerning, to perfectionism on a personal level. 

Imperfection is often something that is seen as ‘bad’ or ‘undesirable.’ In fact, the actual definition of the word is ‘the state of being faulty, or incomplete.’ 

This idea of imperfection often creates the concept that being anything less than perfect is bad, leading to thoughts like, ‘If someone isn’t perfect, that must mean that they are undesirable.’ However, this simply isn’t true.

Researcher and author Brené Brown is an advocate for embracing vulnerability and imperfection. In her numerous TED Talks and books, she discusses how being imperfect allows us to build deeper connections and relationships with the people around us. 

She couldn’t be more right when saying this. Embracing imperfection allows us to express deeper emotions like empathy and courage on a level that a perfectionist mindset cannot allow. 

Imperfection is a gateway to embracing your true emotions. It allows you to release the steep pressure of constantly needing to be ‘perfect,’ as that is a hill that will only get steeper as you climb up. 

When we allow ourselves to let go of a flawless mindset, we are free to live life more fully, without the burden of constant self-criticism. 

The search for perfection is an endless cycle that will always lead to frustration and self doubt. The moment that we can accept that imperfection is not something that is bad but is something that makes us human, we relieve ourselves from the impossibly high standards we place on ourselves.

Embracing our imperfections lets us experience life to its full extent, as making mistakes is a beautiful part of experiencing life, an experience that perfection can never offer. So, the next time you feel a pressure to be flawless, remember that it’s our mistakes and vulnerabilities that make us beautifully human. 

Hayden Hackney is a Hutchinson freshman studying journalism. You can contact him on Instagram.

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