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Many of us will watch the oscar ceremony. We can be curious to see who takes the coveted statues, and also curious to see how perfect and gorgeous the ‘stars’ look as they walk the red carpet or climb the steps on to the stage.
Personally I don’t know anyone who looks like a film star. I know some beautiful people, some kind people, some lovely friends and family, but in my life – a real life – perfection doesn’t often take center stage.
It doesn’t actually bother me that much, in fact it may be quite the opposite.
I revel in the ‘different’, the unusual, the flawed.
I am happy to find beauty in the unexpected place.
And so today, when I noticed that the past week had been so busy that I had let a bouquet of flowers go dry in their vase, I thought again about how perfect ‘imperfection’ can be.
My house is sometimes pretty, sometimes neat and tidy, but also sometimes a mess. It is above all a home filled with children, children’s friends, dogs, muddy boots, a busy kitchen. It is the air of happy disorder that makes it feel friendly and lived in. A real home not a showcase.
These flowers were stunning when fresh … but now I can see poetry in their curved and cracked stems. Their soft moist petals may be dry but they feel and look like handmade works of art.
In this blogging world where we all love to share pictures of our dream house, or table, or dress or garden, it’s good to take one step back and say “real life is better than a styled stage set”.
‘Embracing imperfection’ ….. my motto for the week ahead ……
hope you have a good one.
39 comments
You have given me a fresh way of thinking, Sharon.
And, yes, those flowers are beautiful, aren't they?
Of course, this is what we should strive for every day, looking at things and seeing beauty in all their forms. Brilliant post, my dear. And, I'm so not into the Oscars this year…yawn.
Oh yes, real life is so much better than a staged one. I'm not into the Oscars, ever. But I do enjoy seeing some of the outfits later, when I don't have to endure the entire production.
The dried flowers have a beauty all their own.
I couldn't agree more.
your imperfect flowers look perfect to me, showing their beauty in another form.
I'm sure we'll be seeing them popping up somewhere in lots of your lovely pictures. or should I say 'I hope they will'.
This is a really neat post.
Even if flowers had to be sacrificed first, haha, just kidding.
Truly though, a point well taken.
Our lives are not showcase very often – live, let there be messes, love, be happy.
Your pictures are gorgeous.
So true, imperfection can be so perfect!
Mary x
Hello Sharon….Just a little note to let you know how very much I enjoy your blog!….It is simply lovely!….& so very inspiring!
I wanted you to know that my own post today was about your "My French Country Home" blog!….You can view it at foxglovesfabricandfolly.blogspot.com….
Thank you again!…Your friend, Heidi XO
So true. Embracing imperfection doesn't mean there's no standard. We "strive" to live a life of beauty, not a perfect life. Lovely and thoughtful post. Thank you Sharon!
xx Amelia
I so totally agree with you, Sharon. I find imperfection to be true beauty. We tend to think that perfect is better but actually it's a little boring! And I honestly believe that my home is the most happiest when it is filled with clutter and laughter.
XO,
Jane
I couldn't have said it better Sharon…and My French Country Home" … does it so well! Thanks Sharon:)
My Dear Sharon~
What a lovely, lovely writing of all that is True!! I adore the dried flowers in their imperfect beauty…….they are joy to my heart as is your Blog on this day
B.P.
xoxoxo
I gave up perfection years ago – life is good. Love this post.
Thank you. My life is full of imperfections,sometimes I need to remember that it is OK to be imperfect.
I so agree with embracing imperfection. I sometimes think we lose the fact that we live in an imperfect world…and that is OK. I like to let my flowers dry when I know that they are not perfect any more…especially roses. I keep adding them to a large bowl when they are dry and they look lovely.
When I read this post I know why I love your blog. You're a woman after my own heart. Each morning I look at the egg holder you so kindly gave me and remember the marvellous week David and I spent with you last year. I hope we will return one day. Best wishes to you and your delightful family. Deidre.
All of those actresses have an army of hair and makeup artists, and a stylist to put them together. Their handler walks down the red carpet with them to make sure that the camera's capture the perfect angle and their hair isn't out of place.
Tomorrow they will wake up with messy hair and no makeup on – just like us. The difference is my dress is hanging in my closet, their dress goes back to the designer tomorrow morning.
It's not all that it appears to be.
Exactly! Perfect is boring!! A styled house/ life is not LIVING!
You put it beautifully, it is the imperfections that give character.
So beautifully put Sharon……….beauty is everywhere in all its disguises……we just have to open our eyes and see it.
Have a lovely week,
Sophia
The truth is there is plenty of imperfection and dysfunction in that Hollywood world… it's just spackled over…
Lovely post Sharon… xv
Loved this post Sharon – so much beauty in the everyday – so over who wore what……best wishes x
Hi Sharon, I completely agree with this – I often look at interior design sites and while the pictures are beautiful, it's not real life! It's very relaxing and freeing when we can accept normal imperfections, in all areas of life. Alison
Hi Sharon, This morning, after leaving a my beautiful home totally devastated after a weekend of kids, dogs and friends, to go to work. I felt frustrated to the point of near tears and was dreading going back to tidy it all up at the end of the day. I turned on my computer to see your blog and it made me smile and realise that I may have a messy home, but I also have a full and rich life, so thank you for that. I'm ashamed that I needed reminding that a perfect home means there's no one there to make it untidy!! Liz
It's more relaxing to live a real life with its imperfections 🙂
Love your blog :)))
Hi Sharon, how absolutely right you are! Beauty is not only to be found in immaculate surfaces! And life is abour more than about perfect surfaces. All the more that the Hollywood version of perfect beauty most often holds no real truth, but is only what Nietzche would call "appearance" ("Schein"). But it is much better and healthier to live for and in "reality" ("Sein").
Christel
Beautifully said; important to remember. Thank you.
I never waste time on the Oscars. And those film stars are not perfect,either.
You, my far away friend, have taught me so much about non-contrived beauty in life.
~Lynne
w/L.
There's nothing more perfectly delightful than an imperfectly perfect family home, and your photos are always stunning!
Love this! Trying to embrace it myself! 🙂
I do love a dried flower, the flower is beautiful fresh and dead, amazing.
I home is not a home until it is truly lived in.
Thanks for sharing.
Michele
YOu speak the truth, Actually in North America, the new homes with French or Tuscan flare seem just too perfect and the flaws are what is missing … or imperfections. But I love REd carpet, and I love mostly when women and men dress up to look good for each other, it is my passion, it is art to me (:
YOur flowers are lovely, hugs Z
Thanks for the reminders…and the flowers are so lovely.
Nancy
Loved your words of wisdom + also love the Awards show. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
i will always see the beauty in the cracks, the imperfection. it's the secret to staying happy.
smiles to you.
michele
p.s.
how bout all the long, luxurious manes on the men this year? wasn't that a hoot?
Hello Sharon
Real life is infinitely more interesting than imagined. I raise my tea cup to lived in kitchens and rooms filled with family and friends. It does not get much better.
Hope your week is special
Helen xx
I love this post…so very much. Beautiful flowers, beautifully said.
melinda
I feel the same. Perfection is boring but life shouldn't be.
Amen – I secretly love the "stars without their makeup" pix, they look just like the rest of us 😉
The pursuit of beauty is joyful and endless but perfection is boring.
"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion". Sir Francis Bacon, "Of Beauty" English author, courtier, & philosopher
Minerva ~
I think it's a re-definition of perfection. Really what could be more perfect than a house full of children who are happy to have their friends join them in their home and are welcome to do so. A busy kitchen where real food is prepared and shared generously…a lovely home that carries all these memories that are created…now that's perfect!
Lise-Lotte
partygreen(dot)ca