What if the Perfection we Seek is Right Before our Eyes

'I don't want to do this because I fear I won't do it perfectly.'

That voice follows me around. It seems to follow other people too, because I have seen podcasts or books dedicated to the topic.

The idea of perfection as something we move toward is tempting. It gives us the idea that we have agency. A path.

A part of me says, 'Please give me perfection'. Another part immediately points out that this is not attainable and I should not get my hopes up.

Yet another part quietly says, '...but what if it is?'.

Around we go. It is exhausting.

This happens when I paint. It happens when I write. It happens when I love and live. The notion of perfection is always there, hanging above my head. As with many of the notions that hang above my head, I am here to question it.

What if the perfection we seek is right before our eyes? What if it is in us and outside of us at the same time?

Can you think back to a moment you would describe as perfect? How long did it last? Was it a moment you tried to make perfect, or is that just what it was?

What if perfection does not respond well to our striving and wanting, but asks us to be where it is?

Perfection seems to arise out of acceptance of all the tensions I try to solve in my attempt to bring it about. It feels like a balancing act where I am not the centrepiece, but a point in a structure. All points are, and rely on the others.

We sarcastically refer to 'the perfect storm'. Maybe this points us to something because just imagine all the elements that come into play to create a storm. Imagine the interactions and tensions between them.

Imagine music. Notes, tension, timing.

Imagine a circus artist suspended in the air. Forces, tension, timing.

Imagine sailing or surfing. Windsurfing. Perfection comes about through the acceptance of and response to forces and tension. It's a settling into what is.

This is not a passive process, but something that emerges in the moment, from the actions and omissions, the push and pull, the give and take between the wind, the water, the surfer's body and the board. And an infinite amount of other factors.

I don't think this is something we can bring about by chasing after it. I don't think it is something we should strive for. Overreaching and fussing can topple the scales when you are hanging in the balance.

We can be open to perfection. We will have moments we want to hold onto, but cannot. Our job is to be our part. To be nothing other. To be nowhere else. To not deny what is there.

So we can respond.

So perfection can be.

So we can be perfection.