45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creating Emotional Space to Enjoy Life!, January 20, 2001
This review is from: The Art of Imperfection: Simple Ways to Make Peace with Yourself (Hardcover)
The Art of Imperfection is the sequel to The Art of Doing Nothing. For many people, it will make more sense to read The Art of Imperfection first. Without the permission to ease up the throttle on narrowing the imperfection gap, you'll never have the time to do nothing.
After a rocky beginning in describing the art of making mistakes (by mixing up the key concepts of complexity science and chaos theory), the book rights itself and provides many valuable insights into seeing imperfections are resources and opportunities.
The illustrations are even better than the text for powerfully engaging your mind with the truth of imperfection's appeal and strength. The sepia-based duotone photographs set an elegant and relaxed mood for the book. The subjects of these photographs are most often females, sculptures, geometric designs, and nature. In themselves, the coloration and the compositions create a zen-like atmosphere that are a good context for the written musings.
Although deliberately aimed at women and men, I think most will agree that this book will appeal much more strongly to most women than to most men due to the content of the advice and subjects of the illustrations. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book very much.
The book features ten essays on different aspects of benefiting from imperfections. Each essay, in turn, is elaborated on with further examples and observations. Each one could keep you happy day dreaming for days.
Here are the essay titles and a few key quotes from each:
(1) The art of making mistakes: "Though we all agree that to err is human, each of us individually believes that he or she is the exception." "Unfortunately, thinking that being right will save us from being wrong is a misapprehension." " . . . [T]he best time to learn from your mistakes is before they happen." I particularly liked the points about how artists and musicians use deliberate mistakes to heighten the audience reaction and enjoyment.
(2) The art of being shy: Our objective should be to create a "lack of self-importance." " . . . [M]ost of us grossly underestimate our physical appeal." "We are all shy." "Short of having a film crew to make a home movie, you and I will never meet our visible selves . . . ." "Exercise helps -- and so does closing your eyes and visualizing the Oneness of It All." There is also a vulgar suggestion for overcoming shyness that I will not repeat. There is a good list of how to handle a social situation that will help the most shy people.
(3) The art of looking like yourself: "The best beauty product is to have a life." Build your "inner beauty." ". . . [G]et up in the morning and say 'Wow.'" "The ideal of beauty is replaced today by an ideal of realness." " . . . [Y]ou must look like you never bother with mirrors, brushes, or combs." "Simplicity is key . . . ." Mentally, it helps to close your eyes, mute your mind's voice, become a little disoriented, and drift.
(4) The art of having nothing to wear: "The more style in clothes, the more buoyant the feeling." "The style of an outfit is subjective, elusive, and volatile, with a half-life of less than two months." You will never be dowdy "as long as you never stop feeling that you have absolutely nothing to wear."
(5) The art of not being right: "Why should your happiness depend on the exemplary behavior of others?" There is a great list of ways to make other people feel you support and like them.
(6) The art of being disorganized: "Making mistakes is part of getting organized." "Anytime you either slow down, resist a task, or invent some insane reason for getting behind schedule, pay special attention . . . ." Breakthroughs come when something tells us to slow down.
(7) The art of having taste -- not good taste: " . . . [A]cquire things slowly."
(8) The art of not knowing what to do: "To go, not knowing where. And to find answers, not knowing why."
(9) The art of being silly: "Honest and gullible, trusting yet reckless, playful but insecure . . . . " "You just relax, roll your eyes, and that's that."
(10) The art of being neither rich nor famous: "Sooner or later, we all get our 15 minutes of fame . . . It means nothing." "He who knows he has enough is rich." -- Lao-tzu
In conclusion, "Perfect moments happen to imperfect people at the most imperfect times." "Perfect moments happen every day."
As you can see, this book not only makes you feel better about errors, flaws, and other vulnerabilities, it encourages you to move towards embracing them as the path to progress. If you can achieve that mental switch, you will not only find your life filled with more relaxation, you will also enjoy and appreciate more. I heartily encourage you to take this trip.
After you have finished reading the book, I suggest that you take 15 minutes every night to seek out imperfections and flaws. Once you have them spotted, think about how they are the best things that could have happened to you. In this way, you will build the habit of seeing the good in the imperfect. Over time, you will become better at finding opportunities and comfort in these imperfections. Then you will be on the path towards a healthy wisdom.
Enjoy all aspects of your life . . . warts and all!
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