Perfection: A bit of Palaver

The Oxford Dictionary definition of perfection

This is not the post I planed on doing today. If everything went according to plan, than you would read my second Book-Lookbook. This time inspired by Lila Bard from the Darker Shades of Magic series. Unfortunately, reality  eats plans for breakfast, so there had to be a change of plans today.

But what made me change my plans? The answer is simple. My own high standard, my desire to be perfect and create perfection. So instead of putting out something that I am not proud of, I thought I would start a discussion about perfection. Let's go.

What is Perfection?

The fist step in talking about something is defining what it is, that you are talking about. So I googled perfection to find some definitions. The matter seems to be quite simple. Perfection seems to be the absence of mistakes or flaws, a truly perfect state of being. It also seems to be objective.
The desire of seeming perfect must be as old as humankind, but the desire to show one is perfect must have increased since Social Media was invented.

Perfection and Social Media 

I hate to be the person that searches for everything bad in Social Media. Social Media can be great and fun, but I think it is dangerous to not see the darker parts of it. 

Social Media is inherently fake and real at the same time. On Social Media everybody paints a perfect picture of themselves. As long as everybody is aware that we are looking at a painted image there is no problem. The problem arises the moment this crucial awareness fades. This can happen to anyone in a weak moment. The younger the user the higher the risk, but even adults can sometimes loose it. And once lost, it is very unhealthy to look at all those perfect lives and compare them to ones own. Because no live can ever compete with the Social Media version of it. 

There is also a difference between knowing that what we see on Social Media is fake and feeling it. I think everybody knows that no live can be as good as it is portrayed online. But without the deep feeling of that knowledge it is useless. We might not openly talk about our envy, but it still boils inside us. And that is not healthy. Not one bit.

As of so far, I have only talked about the bigger picture. Comparing whole lifes to one another. The problems are also present on a much smaller scale. A good example is the obsession over the "perfect Instagram Theme". A theme is fun and can make things easier but more often than not it makes things stressful.  I get a bit sad when I read that people did not post a certain picture, just because it did not match their theme. Because it would have ruined the aesthetic of their profile. I think that everybody is guilty of this. Everytime I look at my Instagram feed I think: Man this looks so incohesive. I feel bad, because of some pictures I posted online aren't matching. And that can not be good. 

Reaching for perfection is a dangerous game that can be fun at times, but more often than not leaves us feeling bad about ourselves.

   

My relationship with perfection

This is where it gets a bit personal. My personal relationship with perfection. Oh boy. 

I used to say, that I wasn't a perfectionist. I would proudly point out all my flaws to show that I did not care. Only when I matured a bit more I realised, that every flaw I used to point out was there so that I would be perfect. Because no one can be perfect without some flaws right? Mine weren't "natural" they were studied, an act put on to truly reach perfection. And very unhealthy.

Now I know that I am indeed a perfectionist. And I try to live with that. 

On the one had I consider it a strength. I am very efficient in my perfectionism so I still get a lot of stuff done and the stuff that I do is usually good. But I am so stressed about everything being good. Just take this blogpost for example. Instead of just using what I already had, I sat down again and wrote another post! Just because it bugged me that the other one was not perfect. 

Bad habits don't disappear easily. It takes time and a lot of effort to step away from them. But in the end one will be happier. But I can't just preach can I? The next part will be the post that I planned on posting today. I hope you enjoy it. During my initial research for this post I stumbled across the Urban dictionary definition of perfection. This one I liked much better:

  

The disregarded post

For todays post I drew inspiration form Lila Bard. One of the main characters from A Darker Shade of Magic. If you have not read the series, I highly recommend it. Its so good and Lila is just such a strong female character.

The first I put together is inspired by Lilas everday wear. A coat, Boots and the Demon Masks.

The second is inspired by the only time she wears something feminine. The blue ballgown, only to mess with Kell.

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I hope you liked this post. 

Let me know ypur thoughts and opinions on perfection. 

Thank you for reading. 

-Miett