I Am Perfectly Imperfect And Nothing Like Those Perfect Girls

Perfection. It’s a beautiful word, full of power. To say someone is perfect would be giving them the absolute highest compliment they could ever receive, but it would also be creating issues and expectations for them to live up to. Because in calling them perfect, you are saying that they are completely flawless, that they are without fault, that they may as well be on the same level as a deity.

The reality is this: perfection doesn’t exist. And yet, every time we turn on the TV or see social media, we are faced with images and stories of how “perfect” people’s lives are. Forgetting that it’s all make-believe, it’s people playing pretend, it’s society tricking us with whatever means possible to cover up the flaws, to fake perfection. 

I open my Instagram app and what do I see? I see a perfect family, staring at me. 

When we are faced with these false images of perfection, it is only natural that we begin to wonder and compare our own lives. Images are deceiving and if you think the life of another is perfect, from their partner, children, and lifestyle, remember that things are never as they seem. We are all flawed. We all have scars and secrets from our past that we’ve learned to deal with in the present and for the future. We are all imperfect, but not everyone shows these things.

The majority of people who try to pass themselves off as perfect are women, but why? Maybe they feel they need to compete with societal expectations. Maybe they like coming across this way. Maybe they have a void in their lives that they need to fill by pretending to be something they’re not, by pretending that their life isn’t just okay, it’s absolutely perfect. So they show the pristine homes, the luxury vacations, the stunning husband, the body without defect, the beauty…that took multiple editing apps to create. Maybe they’re struggling internally and the only way they know how to deal with their own issues to to create an impeccable second self.

Well, I refuse to be one of those girls, the girls who strive for perfection, the girls who need to validate themselves by what others think of them instead of working through their insecurities.

I will never have a perfect life. I won’t have a perfect family, home, or career, but honestly, I wouldn’t even want those things. I want a life of blissful balance. A life that is beautifully messy, a life full of orderly chaos. I want a life that’s unique to me, not a life chasing the expectations of others.

I am not like the perfect girls you see. The effort I put in to my looks and appearance is for me. I don’t say or do the things I do with the hopes that I will impress others. I stay true to who I am, I share my vulnerabilities and try to be as honest and transparent as possible, showing the good and the bad.

Stop grasping for unattainable perfection, because you’ll never reach it. Let’s own our differences, own our scars, and own our pasts, because they are part of our story. Remember that those differences, flaws, and imperfections, make each of us beautifully unique. Diamonds are flawless and perfect, people are just fascinatingly flawed.

I will never be like those perfect girls you see, nor do I aspire to be like them. This is me… perfectly imperfect, imperfectly perfect, and I wouldn’t want to be any other way.