To be creative, to take charge of your art, your business, or your life, you need to embrace your flaws. But in our high-stress, perfection-driven world, it’s easy to get caught up in the pursuit of flawlessness. The problem? Perfectionism is the death of creativity. It’s unnatural, rigid, and fueled by fear. By contrast, nature teaches us a profound lesson: imperfection is not a flaw but a unique, lively, and vibrant beauty. Take a lesson from nature and embrace your flaws to ignite your courage and creativity.
If there is such a thing as human perfection, it seems to emerge
precisely from how we handle the imperfection that is everywhere,
especially our own.
Richard Rohr
Imperfection in Nature
Each morning, my dad would grab his ikebana shears and place them in the back pocket of his dress slacks. He would walk through the woods behind our house and carefully select and snip branches, flowers, and leaves.
He’d place his haul into the back of his truck and drive the short distance to his shop on Main Street. One by one, all the goodies from the woods would go into buckets of water in his studio. He’d put on his navy apron to cover his button-down Oxford cloth shirt and tie and then would select a container.
The opening moves of a hypnotic ceremony.
Dad could see a design in his head and would create ikebana arrangements with towering branches, leaves of all shapes and sizes, and flowers—exotic and native. Every few minutes, he’d stare at the buckets, the container, and the arrangement in process.
Like a painter selecting a color from his palette, Dad would hold up an item, snip it with surgical precision here and there, and place it into the container.
It was an enchanting meditation for both of us.
One morning, one of the studio buckets held a dozen or so variegated hosta leaves. They were exquisite, lush, and shiny, with a deep green hue and white margins. Dad peered into the bucket and thumbed through leaves like pages in a book. He stopped when he found the perfect specimen: a stunner of a hosta leaf with an enormous snail hole in its center.
“Why are you selecting that one?” I asked. “It’s not flawless like the others. I mean, look at that giant hole.”
“I’m choosing this one because it has a beautiful imperfection,” Dad said. “I am going to design the entire arrangement around this leaf and highlight it. Look at how gorgeous it is.”
I was stunned, silent. This ran counter to everything I thought I knew about the world and my role in it. Throughout my then 10 years of life, I had learned the lesson of the importance of always striving for perfection. And if you missed the mark, you certainly didn’t reveal it or place it front and center.
If nature can so beautifully embrace its flaws, could I embrace mine, too?
I witnessed the arrangement come into being, lost in my whirring thoughts. This was a brand new way of thinking and being in the world. I was excited, filled with energy. I had a hunch that I could try anything and not risk ruin. Not risk losing love or favor.
Permission to Embrace Your Flaws
When the arrangement was finished, Dad marched it out to the front display case. A crowd gathered around it and every single person pointed to and commented on the snail hole. I could see smiles, nodding heads, and a subtle relief washing over them.
Permission to fail. To be flawed.
We stop ourselves over and over because there is no way we can ever achieve the ideal of perfection. We tend to believe some version of, “If I cannot do it perfectly, I do not want to do it all.”
It is so much fun to turn this energy on its head and intentionally create from a place of embracing deficiencies and faults. Liberation! I am convinced my best work comes from the well of wild abandon.
I bet this is true for you as well.
In our perfection-driven world, we can slow down, observe, and appreciate the understated beauty of the blemished and the incomplete. Our imperfections are not just endurable but essential, turning them into the very essence of our creative and courageous selves.
When you approach life with this mindset, and embrace your flaws, you inspire others to do the same, fostering a culture of empathy, acceptance, and true creative expression.
Imperfection fosters vulnerability, learning, spontaneity, and authenticity—all crucial elements of the creative process. By embracing your flaws rather than shunning them, you can unlock a fountainhead of creativity and innovation.
Our imperfections are not just acceptable but essential to the beauty of our existence. I challenge you to embrace your flaws and honor the moments where you’ve missed the mark (perceived or real). In this way, we can learn to see the world—and ourselves—with a wholehearted, more compassionate eye.
Episode 2 of my new podcast, The Courage to Live a Big Life, is live!
Enjoy the 5-minute episode, “Rediscover Your Authentic Self” here.
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