Exuberant Imperfection

“One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn't exist.....Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist” 
-Stephen Hawking

 As I searched my archive of photos, I  found many “flawed”  flowers, insects and scenes. Some were photos of the last  dry leaf clinging to a tree, some were blossoms a bit dried around the edges.

I felt like that, too, that I was  a little  worn out here and there  but had some quite nice bits as well.

I searched for famous quotes about the beauty of flaws. What  I found was  many hundreds of passages and quotes but all shared a commonality- the notion that imperfections were errors.

They spoke of overlooking imperfections, of loving a person in spite of an imperfection or perceived notion of one, of looking at  our bodies and accepting our imperfections. I knew I  didn’t want to ‘accept imperfections” I want to  celebrate them.

I discovered I have  a deep love for imperfections. I have fun practicing exuberant imperfection when I write , I often let the words just burst  from me, falling onto the page in ajumble of misspellings and bad punctuation.  I may have to go back again and again to tidy things up  but I have found some pretty good ideas can spring from  taking the risk to create something quite messy.

Shoshin (初心) is a Zen Buddhist word meaning "beginner's mind." It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when looking at a subject, a person, or even a job, with fresh eyes every time.

In that spirit, I  offer up some photos of the perfection I have found in the imperfect and beautiful outdoors of our lovely state.

I’m sure I’ll share more elegant photos along the way, but for today  I  am not in the mood to be that precious and want to celebrate the glorious world of exuberant imperfection that surrounds us all.

(And especially my own flawed and lovely world....)