There is a famous French saying, “Elle est très bien dans sa peau”, which means, “She sits well in her skin”.
Wouldn’t that be lovely?
But we live in a world where we are surrounded by pictures of other people and their lives that have been filtered and digitally and cosmetically enhanced, so is it any wonder that we are constantly striving for perfection, and ‘sitting well in our skin’ is something other people seem to do? But what even is perfection, and why is it so important to us?
What is perfection?
Perfection is protection. Making ourselves out to be, what we believe, to be perfect protects us from judgement.
It’s only human to want to be liked or validated and we think that being ‘perfect’ will achieve this. Trying to be perfect is born out of our own perceived imperfections, and some of us are so busy trying to iron out those imperfections striving for the perfect life, figure, or hair – that we’ve forgotten to see the joy in life.
We’re so worried what other people might say that we aren’t authentically ourselves, but remember what Oscar Wilde famously said, “Be yourself because everyone else is taken”.
Do you follow the trend or make your own?
The first imperfect perfect person that springs to my mind is David Bowie. On the face of it he had crooked teeth and mismatched eyes, but he was David Bowie!!
However, being individual, even in a much smaller way than Ziggy Stardust, takes courage, the easier option is to follow the trend. However, trends are there as inspiration, not rules! Due to our personal style and individual body shapes we all suit different things, so putting together your own interpretation of trends takes knowing yourself, trusting your gut and having the confidence to go for it.
And building that self-confidence doesn’t come overnight, it’s something that we need to work on because it’s self-care.
Perfection is boring
Ask yourself what it is that you love about your family and friends – is it because they’re perfect? Probably not. I’m going to throw something out there – I think perfection is boring. I don’t claim to be perfect, and neither is my husband, my kids, my family, or friends and that’s why I love them, because they are perfect to me, flaws and all.
Remember, it’s our ‘so called’ imperfections that make us interesting and unique. And wouldn’t life be dull if we were all clones of each other?
