Reflection

“All these characters are complex, somewhat insolent, defiant, desperate for attention and love, and very much a product of their times. Theirs are inner lives created in reaction to the structures that surround them.”
– Sadie Stein

 

Do you ever compare yourself to other people? Observe photographs of strangers as if it symbolizes their perfection? Believing their happiness is solely based on their beauty, that they can never be upset with life – be human – because of it. It can be elementary to compare yourself to these fictitious lives. Lives that are composed of societies perception of beauty – what it takes to be okay. Do you ever imagine what lives they have? How many friends they confide in. How many people want to be around them, to be noticed by them. How little they feel upset because they have no concept of imperfection. No one could possibly be that perfect.

Maybe we’re too hard on ourselves. Maybe we look in the mirror every day only to overlook our true qualities. The things that make us unique. Maybe all we can see is imperfection.

Maybe we should stop that.

Imperfection

“Perfection is a strange thing, because we go through life being told that it is inherently unattainable. But would we truly know a perfect thing if it looked us in the face?”
– Jason Diamond

One day, you will have everything you have ever longed for and it still will not be sufficient. Everything will fit into place and yet you will remain empty. You will compare yourself to those around you, foraging for something to want, to need, to obsess over. As if the presence of this pungent desire is what drives you.

Why do this to yourself? Why crave something so imperfect, you will stop at nothing to hold it, to have it, to own it? Why paint such a beautiful picture only to have it never be adequate? To throw it away for something new and shiny.

The answer seems so simple yet every day these impulses pull and tug on all fibers of hope. They break down our poorly constructed defense and for some reason, we find it easier to constantly need and want rather than appreciate what we already possess. Do not pity those around you or hunger for their accomplishments. Indulge in your triumphs and appreciate who you are.