Embracing Imperfection: Find Beauty in the Imperfect
Few days back, my aunt, who is a yoga instructor, posted a very beautiful post on accepting the imperfections and introduced me to the Japanese philosophy: Wabi-Sabi.
Wabi-sabi is a practice of embracing imperfection, a philosophy ingrained deep in Japanese culture and has roots in Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Wabi means ‘simplicity’ and sabi means ‘the beauty of age and wear’. Thus, philosophy is centred around the acceptance of imperfection and transience.
As I read more about it, I realised that over years, it had inspired multiple art forms and literature. This is well reflected in an old Japanese art form called Kintsugi — an art of repairing the broken ceramics with metallic liquid or gold. Instead of discarding the cracked ceramic pots, the object is elevated to higher value using this art form. The cracks are highlighted and emboldened in gold. This is Wabi-sabi.
Relevance of Wabi-Sabi in Present World
Take a look around you. The reality is strikingly different from what we learn in philosophy. We are living in a picture perfect world. Look at the Instagram stories, Facebook posts — everywhere we are looking for that outward expression of happiness and perfectionism. We are hiding our scars, our wrinkles, our tears. We are hiding our mistakes beneath the lies. Why? Because there is low acceptance for imperfections and mistakes in our society. There is fear of being judged, fear of being ridiculed, fear of being disowned, fear of being left out. The other day I was speaking to a colleague of mine and she revealed that she is under so much of stress lately. Everything she does is never enough to meet the standards. She is tired of running behind that eluded perfect state. This is leading to self-criticism and mental health issues.
I am no different. I am well aware of my craving for perfectionism to some degree. And in my spiritual practice, I try to overcome my expectations and accept who I am. Having learnt about Wabi-Sabi, can this Japenese philosophy help me? Will adoption of Wabi-sabi in our day-to-day life help us to be happy and stay sane? I believe, the answer is Yes.
How to Embrace Imperfections?
- Practice Compassion and Learn Acceptance: We need to treat others the way we wanted to be treated. Hence, as individuals we must realise that everyone has flaws and imperfections. Let’s practice being non-judgemental. Be kind to others when we notice those flaws. But first, be kind to our own-self when we notice them within. Remember that we can’t change our outside behaviour if we don’t change internally ( it’s hard but achievable!).
- Learn from Nature: Retreat to nature to revitalise yourself and charge up again. Observe the nature closely for it is the best teacher. Have you ever taken a closer look at the fallen leaves and naked trees in autumn? Many a times, I find myself lost looking at the strong, beautiful structure of those trees, the irregularities in the wood, asymmetry in the branches which are otherwise hidden beneath the leaves. It reminds me to appreciate the beauty in natural imperfections.
- Reframe the thoughts— Embrace imperfections with reframing mindset. Instead of focusing on what is wrong or imperfect, try to see the uniqueness in things that may be considered imperfect but still add value. Be mindful — Don’t fall in the trap of trying to change yourself without accepting who you are in the first place. Having a growth mindset towards your shortcomings will help only when you embrace it as a way to learn and grow.
I recently worked on leather art. In all honesty— the end-product didn’t come out as perfect as my partners’. My work was not as clean as his. A close friend of mine liked it and asked me to create a piece for her. I told her that I’ll ask my partner to create one as I am not good at it. She said something beautiful which I will always remember. “I don’t mind imperfections in the product. For me what matters is — it will be made by you for me.” That was a reminder for me on two things — a) Accept my own work. Accept it in all its form no matter what. After all, it was my first hand-made piece. b) Be kind to others. Be appreciative of others’ work.
Let’s strive to make our lives simple, be more tolerant and acceptable of who we are. Let’s celebrate each other’s uniqueness and each other’s flaws. Embrace each characteristics of our nature and of our human form.
