while having lunch recently with friends, one noticed a ring on my finger that i wear from time to time and asked if it was new. i explained that sometimes it made my eczema flare up so i couldn’t always wear it. “ah,” one exclaimed, “so you’re not perfect!” hmmm, that off the cuff comment has stayed with me for weeks. perfect? oh lordie, far from it. let me count the ways.

i often have a potty mouth. i’ve had a sugar addiction of sorts for years. i’m a mess in the kitchen. i’ve only read 50% of the books on my overflowing shelves. i need to sleep more than the average person. i’m an absolute wallflower in situations where i don’t know anyone. perfection? ha!

i could go on and on, but i think you get the point. we aren’t perfect beings and our messiness makes us a bit more, well, fabulous. at least i like to think so. 

the above image makes me giggle at what was considered perfection in the 50s: donning an apron and heading to ones’ well-organized pantry stuffed with ball jars of canned concoctions. 

today what is perfection? maybe the woman who juggles family, carpools, career, organic eating, relationships, social obligations, philanthropy all while staying trim, in love, and gleefully happy.

who knows. honestly perfection is probably incredibly personal and where many struggles start such as eating disorders. we see another’s life and think how perfect it must be and how if only we had that {fill in the blank} we, too, would be happy. “if only i was a best-seller. if only i had a family like hers. if only i lived in nyc.” and the list goes on and on. 

one thing i’ve learned over the years and is not to compare my insides to anyone else’s outsides. ponder this one for awhile. it’s a juicy statement.

struggle with perfectionism? take this quiz from psychology today. and here’s a great article by a social worker on the problem with perfection. i really resonate with his statement that perfection is being in the present. 

today observe your relationship with perfectionism. live in the present {here are 7 tips to do so}. and know you are perfectly imperfect. promise. bisous. x