Perfection: A Discussion

Let’s talk about perfection, starting with the definition. Google says it is the state or quality of being perfect. Which means we need to first understand what perfect means. Google says ‘perfect’ as an adjective is to have all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be, but as a verb it is to make (something) completely free from faults or defects; make as good as possible, or simply put as absolute, complete. Now that we have the definitions down we can unpack what perfection really looks like or if it is a real thing at all.

To be perfect is to have all the desired, required elements, qualities etc. which quite frankly is pretty much impossible since there are millions, no billions of views on what is considered perfection. With the huge population of the world and each person being very much individual in their opinions of what is deemed to be perfection in their eyes, no one thing is perfect as this definition would suggest. Let me give you one of the most basic examples there could be: food. I love lasagne, especially when the white sauce (also known as béchamel sauce) is rich, velvety, cheesy, but mum likes it when the white sauce is lovely, but just not as rich, when there’s a layer of lasagne sheets at the bottom which I despise. Our differences in what we consider the ‘perfect’ lasagne means that when I believe I’ve made the BEST lasagne yet, she will say ‘it’s alright’ but when she says it’s the best, I say ‘it’s nice’ but mainly because I made it (and because of that it will always be tasty) rather than being on the same wavelength as her. So just from this example, it’s clear that the state of which individuals perceive to be perfection varies drastically from person to person and this can be down to multitudes of factors. Just to name a few; upbringing, genetics, events, influences from friends, they’re favourite actor loves strong foods, the list could go on.

Perfection is applicable to pretty much everything. Food (obviously), appearances, a person, a place, book, artwork, music, the way in which you do something, an athlete, etc. You can literally put perfect in front of anything and it’ll be a thing, like a perfect pen, perfect paint, perfect wall, (and most controversially) perfect phone. And its because of the miscellany of the word, I believe that in most cases when it is used it is being wrongly applied.

I started to write this post because not too long ago I wrote down a quote I made up as you would say;

To achieve perfection it takes practice.

When I wrote this down just before bed, I thought it was the best quote that I’d ever made in all time, yet when I looked back at it just a day later, I've never felt so stupid. It was when I looked back at it that I realised just how naïve I was to write such a thing. To be honest, I wanted to cross it out, but then I thought about why I had written it down in the first place. I wrote it in my journal where I’m trying to come to terms with my perception of life in general and crossing out a part of it completely disregards the whole point of it. So instead I decided to write this blog post. When I was writing this little thought down, I was referring to the art of hand lettering of which I've been trying my own hand at. And I should say that it’s some challenge, no way as easy as all the instagrammers and YouTubers make it out to look. I wrote the thought down as a little encouragement to myself, that for me to get to the point I want to be, it’s going to take a whole load of practice and determination. Hence why I said to achieve ‘perfection’ it takes practice, which in a sense it would for anything of the practical nature. But anything that is truly perfect is perfect from the beginning, it doesn’t need practice or test runs to reach its perfection. The best example I can think of is the love of a parent to their child. From the moment the child is born a parent loves them, sees their child as perfect, even when they’re all shrivelled up and covered in goop – they are perfect in their parents eyes, and they will remain to be perfect tough they may grow and change considerably. They are perfect despite every flaw they have, despite crying constantly as a baby, despite pooping their nappy, making a mess, becoming a disobedient child then teenager, despite not being the best at everything, they are perfect.

And that’s the thing, perfection doesn’t really exist outside of God himself. Perfection doesn’t exist in this world, but rather the things we call perfect are glimpses of the perfection that was intended for this world. When you look at that specific art piece you could look at all day, when you watch that film with the best cinematic feature, soundtrack and acting, when you listen to a song a hundred times yet each and every time it tugs at your heart strings. The glimpse of perfection rather than actually looking at perfection. Its incomplete perfection, but even then it’s beautiful, it’s still perfection in the sense that there would be nothing else you would do to improve it. it’s said that perfection (f people) is only seen when you accept the imperfections, and that’s the bottom line, as humans we can never be perfect but the best thing is that God still loves us and helps us move in the right direction. So in a sense we’re already perfect, because a perfect God loves us.