We Need to Talk...

I wrote this about a month ago, but found myself in a situation that was (by no coincidence) similar to what was going on last year. As of today, that's a done deal, and I survived it, so I feel like now is an appropriate time to release this blog.

When you hear the phrase "we need to talk" you instantly prepare yourself for bad news. This isn't necessarily bad news, but it isn't necessarily good, either.

Concept of Perfection

For this one, I need you to think. Do what you have to do to prepare for that.

You ready?

OK. Think about the last time you had or heard a conversation about perfection. Try to remember what you said; try to remember what others said. I'm sure you can remember the basic point everyone was trying to make. Now, take that and dig a little deeper. Try to remember the flow of the conversation, remember the actual diction of the people who were talking. Meditate on that thought for a minute. In this conversation, there's an idea I'm almost certain came up, because it has come up in every conversation I've had or been witness to on the topic of perfection. 

The idea is monotony, a lack of excitement, boring. Somehow in all of these conversations, the concept of perfection puts people on a train of thought leading them to believe that to be perfect is uninteresting, therefore undesirable, and ultimately, unattainable. I think that's where our concept of perfection disconnects from whatever real perfection may be. We try to get these finite minds around an infinite concept, and we fail. We equate a lack of flaws to a lack of variance; a lack of adversity to a lack of purpose; a lack of failure to a lack of success. 

We are used to living a life where value and contentment is derived from dichotomy (can't appreciate sunshine without rain type of thing), and we struggle to imagine a world that functions without those. A world of perfection would require us to do exactly that, find our joy without having despair to compare it to. Almost without fail, in conversations about perfection, you will hear the phrase, "I just can't imagine a world like that," followed by a list of all the imperfect qualities that would be missing in a world turned perfect. My reaction to that -to your inability to imagine- is to welcome you to the limits of your finite mind. You're gonna hate it here.

50 points for reading. It's short, but I actually managed to make my point and I don't want to ruin that by overdoing it. Extra 100 to celebrate. And 202 more for an imperfect world.

JOSH, THE SHERM