Perfect Imperfection
Perfectionism has been called the hidden epidemic of the 21st
century, particularly affecting the younger generation in societies that have embraced
the culture of competitiveness fostered by a free economy. In their thirties,
they form the largest workforce, and are re-defining the work place. While they
claim competitiveness is in their DNA, they are also called the “anxious
generation” and even the “burnout generation”, who set themselves impossible
standards. Their driving force is the desire for perfection, validation from
peers, and the inevitable fear of failure.
This intense need for perfection is often shadowed by what
has been called the Imposter Phenomenon – a belief that the success of a person was the
result of luck rather than a recognition of their abilities and the fear that
they will be discovered to be not as capable as people assume them to be. They
have an inability to internalize success.
First observed in women in high positions at work or in academia,
it came to include minorities and more recent studies show that as many men
also experience the anxiety of the imposter phenomenon.
An obsession with perfection seems a far cry in Pakistani
society, where the concerns of the younger generation, according to a 2017 World
Economic Survey, are lack of economic opportunity, unemployment, poverty,
inequality and the lack of education.
However, the imposter phenomenon may be seen in the pressure to fulfill
socially defined roles – the perfect wife, the perfect husband, the ideal son
or daughter, where the same fear of falling short of high expectations causes
much anxiety, fear of disappointment and unhappiness.
The irony is that no one has been able to define perfection
which remains an elusive, ever-changing idea. Originating in the Latin ‘perfectio’ and the
Greek ‘teleos’ which simply mean
completing something, the idea of
perfection as flawless excellence evolved in the 14 C Europe, a fanciful leap
from Aristotle’s definition of perfection
as a state where nothing can be added and nothing taken away.
Plato in his Theory of Forms was very clear that perfection
was an abstract ideal unachievable in the material world. All objects are only
shadows of their ideal forms. Islamic philosophy refers to the invisible or
abstract ( Al-Ghayb) and the visible ( Al- Shahadah) that exists in the material world. The Farsh or earthly
manifestation is a mere reflection of the Arsh or Divine.
Devotional Islamic art which is essentially Al Shahadah or a
witness of Allah’s creation, avoids the implied arrogance of creating
perfection by leaving deliberate flaws in, for example, carpet patterns or
subtle incorrect angles in the geometric patterns of architecture. Rumi warns “There
is no worse malady in your soul . . . than the conceit of perfection.”
Stephen Hawking says perfection is static and unchangeable.
Evolution in nature takes place because of mutations or imperfections. “Without
imperfection, neither you nor I would exist…The universe doesn't allow
perfection.”
The Arts have always understood that the true stories of
life are revealed in imperfections - a gnarled tree, a wounded soldier, a face
lined with sorrow. The Japanese practice of Wabi Sabi incorporates deliberate
imperfections, asymmetry, roughness, cracks, honouring the transience of
nature.
The artist may dispense with refined skills to convey an emotion.
Van Gogh’s painting, Starry Night, depicts the vastness of nature always in
motion, Arnold Schoenberg's atonal music expresses the disturbing uncertainty
of his times, Anselm Kiefer’s crusted grey canvases “bear the burden of
history” and Reshma’s gravelly voice conveys sorrowful longing.
Perfection is the lodestone, the magnet that guides us, a
reference point that keeps our imbalance in balance, creating Perfect Imperfection.
As Leonard Cohen says "There's a crack in everything/That's how the light
gets in."
Durriya Kazi
January 28, 2023
Karachi
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