A conversation this morning has kept me thinking about the perfect world. Who even invented that phrase? What makes the world perfect or imperfect? Does perfection have to do with appearances or substance? Can something out of the ordinary be perfect? Are the lives of people who defy the traditional and the conventional imperfect? If someone lives in an “imperfect” world but is happy, does that make his or her world perfect? If someone lives in a “perfect” world but is unhappy, is his or her world still perfect? Is the world perfect when we follow the logic and not our hearts?
I have been fortunate to have met so many people and really known them in a deep and personal level. I have made friendships with people whose lives are out of the ordinary, out of the norm. Those people are smart, hard working, loving, caring, respectful, happy, cheerful, and live meaningful lives, but they have decided to do things differently, in a way different than the expected, the usual, away from the mainstream. I love those people the same and actually admire them even more for having the courage to stand up and not be afraid of who they are. If their path would have been better should they had decided to put their feelings aside and followed the traditional roles set out for them: of course. If the people around them would have been more content if they would have followed a different route, a more conventional path: certainly. Would they have been able to live peacefully with themselves because they decided to realize somebody else’s vision of what their lives should have been: hardly.
At the end of the day everyone has the right to make their own definitions of what is a perfect world, or at least what perfection is in their own worlds. I know perfection comes in a lot of shapes, colors, and forms, and each individual has to decide what makes their world perfect. One thing is for sure: perfection does not exist, really. It is only an illusion that keeps us striving to reach it, which is totally OK. A true perfect world is greater than our little worlds, though; it is one in which children do not go to bed hungry or are mistreated, and everybody treats each other with respect and dignity. I want to live in that perfect big world. My little world can still be imperfect, and I will gladly and happily live in it.
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