The Imperfect Truth

When I wake up in the morning with dry skin and fuzzy hair I don’t automatically think - “I am perfect”. Instead, I am reminded that our inherent beauty, in it’s natural state, is imperfect. Our imperfections are still something we tend to be ashamed of and feel need to be fixed because we see "perfect" shoved in our faces every time we scroll our feeds and turn on our TV.

Makeup-free photos have become something of a trend, but let’s be honest: most of the time we’re still seeing unrealistic filtered photos of influencers and celebrities who spend a great deal of time and money on their appearance. So when they post a photo of naked skin, it’s not truly untouched - often eyebrows have been soaped (yes, soap brows are a thing) and lips have been filled. Eyelashes have been lifted and tinted. Hair has been coloured and toned. Skin has been artificially tanned and smoothed. And if we're being really real, most of those "naked" face photos are literally a makeup style. Dont kid yourself. So a “natural” photo is indeed anything but. True, authentic au naturel is not the accepted norm.

I talk about transformation quite a bit and sometimes that refers to physical changes I have experienced. Sometimes the transformations are sought after, but sometimes they just happen by themselves. Like how the light in someone’s eyes gets brighter as they find themselves again, or how they smile more brightly because they’ve discovered something that gives them true joy. But this constant pursuit of change and wildly trying to metamorphose into something we’re not is a fool’s errand. And it’s dangerous.

The ancient Chinese aesthetic, Wabi-Sabi, ascribes to the concept of appreciating the beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete” in nature. The philosophy is rooted in Zen Buddhism where, during the tea ceremony, the most prized bowls, cups and dishes are handmade thus rustic and simplistic in nature - often irregularly shaped and full of cracks after years of use. This is not to say there is not a focus on craftsmanship, just that the attention to the imperfections is highlighted - often by filling those cracks with gold. It’s the pursuit of finding beauty in things as they are.

Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Authour of Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House says:

“Bringing wabi-sabi into your life doesn’t require money, training, or special skills. It takes a mind quiet enough to appreciate muted beauty, courage not to fear bareness, willingness to accept things as they are — without ornamentation. It depends on the ability to slow down, to shift the balance from doing to being, to appreciating rather than perfecting.”

There are ways to incorporate the Wabi-Sabi philosophy into your life so as to be reminded of the more simple, magical things - the impermanence and imperfection of life.

According to wholebeinginstitute.com, there are four ways to practice Wabi-Sabi:

Savour the Present Moment

Embrace your Personal History

Extract Learning

Find Beauty in Simplicity

Being present could mean taking time to focus on your breathing, intentionally savouring your morning coffee, being aware of your bodily sensations and emotions or watching the snow fall on a winter’s day. Take a break from social media and the less-than-authentic ways beauty is portrayed with every scroll.

By embracing your personal history you reflect on your unique story. The good, the bad and the in-between. You are aware of what you’ve learned, you bring attention to your moments of joy and transformation, and you allow yourself to look back with curiosity and openness at what hurt you and helped you so as to gain perspective.

Learning takes place when you allow change to happen and are flexible to the outcomes. When things happen out of your control, how do you respond or react? Learning how to extract meaning from these experiences is vital to seeing beauty in imperfection.

Finding beauty in simplicity happens when we redefine what we consider to be beautiful. When you look around, where do you see beauty? In nature. In the people you love? In the sound of your favourite song and the emotions that it evokes?

It seems to me that now is as good a time as any to embrace the Wabi-Sabi ways. I have found myself feeling very much disenfranchised with what I once thought was beautiful and perfect. In a world where we suddenly have nowhere to go and no one to impress, we would do well to take the time we have and truly appreciate our own perfect imperfections.