Beyond the Polish

 

Beyond the Polish

 

They walk the streets,

Head held high

Staring with determination

At any who pass their gaze,

Pressed and polished,

With purpose to their next appointment.

Frozen in their resolve

A photo reveals

Underneath that amour

Behind their steeled eyes

Is more than what appears.

 

We are all frauds,

Putting on masks to show the world

Fearing our own

Humanity, our frailty

And our power.

Beneath the exterior

We are all crazed and frenzied with

Mismatched clothes and scattered hair

Dirt stains permanently smeared into the skin of our feet.

We are all joyously imperfect and unpolished.

We fear ourselves more than anything

So we paint and clean and change

To forget our own failings.

 

What if we were to celebrate our flaws

Honor our failings and let loose

From the civilized bindings

We created for ourselves?

What if we were free to be

Exactly as we are?

 

If we all took off our masks, let our true selves shine through the world would be a better place. If we could stop being afraid of our failings, our imperfections we all could truly fly and be happy. Sometimes I think we are all afraid if we show our failings to the world our worlds would end. Really it would allow us to be free to make the mistakes we need in order to learn and grow.

 

What masks do you wear?

Love Our Imperfections

 

Love Our Imperfections

 

            I am filled with imperfections

I see them everyday

            When I look in the mirror and see a blemish,

When I lose my keys,

            When I let sadness get the best of me.

While it’s easy to see my own imperfections

            It’s also easy to see the imperfections in others

When someone cuts me off,

            When my friends are too busy to hang out,

When my family doesn’t understand me.

           

            The thing is, it’s all those things

That really make us perfect.

            To be human is to have imperfections

Those imperfections are what make us beautiful.

            It’s through our imperfections,

Through our perceived failings,

            That we can find our shared humanity.

We can discover compassion

            When we accept our imperfections and the imperfections of others

Wholly and completely with loving-kindness.

 

I watched a beautifully touching video this morning which inspired this poem. I would highly recommend watching it! We are all imperfect and that is a form of being perfect if we choose to see it that way. Our imperfections make us beautiful if we choose to see it that way. 

What imperfections make you beautiful?

 

Perfect To Remember

 

Perfect to Remember

 

I laid with eyes closed

This morning.

The sound of birds

The smell of rain

Soaking in through my still

Not quite fully awake self.

Peeking through one

Half opened eye

To see a single stream

Of sun between the clouds.

It’s a day with the

Air just so, and the sky just right

To transport me

To a world of memories.

Flashing

A disjointed movie in my mind

Of images and feelings

Of the past.

Of light and dark, dances, hugs,

Trees, cars, rides,

Life.

The perfect setting

To snuggle down and reminisce

For a just a while,

To remember the joys, the pain

How they all have passed.

The transience of life,

Incredibly obvious

As it flashes by.

 

Lately I have been having many instances where I am suddenly watching movies of my past in my mind. More so than usual I am reminded of all the things that have happened in my life. It’s almost as if my brain is going through my life events, big and small. I don’t know why, I’m just enjoying the reminiscing. It’s always interesting to me the variety of memories that surface. Some are so big and important and other are so seemingly insignificant and random and yet they are etched in my mind.

 

What memories come to you?

It can be perfect

 

Moment Can Be Perfect

 

A moment can be perfect

Even after a chaotic day

Filled with challenges and changes

One small moment

Of nature

Of a cool fall breeze

Gently sweeping everything else away.

 

A moment can be perfect

When looking into the eyes of a child

Remembering how simple

Life can be,

How emotions can take over

And be gone in a second.

 

A moment can be perfect

When we are open to the perfectness of

All the imperfections

That dot our daily lives with

Frustrations, joys, tears and laughs.

When we remember our purpose

Is to live

It is that simple

It is that complicated

All wrapped up into one short

Or long depending how you look at it

Time spent in a human body

On this earth.

 

A moment can be perfect

If only we can let it be

All it is meant to be

Exactly when it is.

 

It can be a very difficult thing to see how “perfect” life can be. When I say perfect I mean an imperfect kind of perfect, one that works for me. Basically I mean looking at the little things and being grateful for them and seeing their perfectness in the grand scheme of life. It can be difficult to see that and be grateful for everything in life and in myself and yet it is the most rewarding journey of my life.

What are some things that are perfect in your life?

A message to myself

 

Can I Love All of You?

 

Can I just love you?

With all your flaws,

Perceived imperfections and shortcomings?

Can I embrace you

When you let the pain take over,

When your tears seem to never end

When you give up, and in desperation cry?

Is it possible for me to love

The things I don’t care to see,

The blemishes, the spots that

Are less than what I think as beautiful?

It’s so easy to love you when you’re flying

When joy pours off you in rivers,

When you are consciously in the flow.

That’s not always the case,

You stumble, fall

Scrape a knee or two.

You get angry and afraid,

Unmotivated and melancholy

You refuse to see how amazing you are,

But can I love you not in spite of those things

But because they are just another part of you?

I’m not sure how to do that,

How to love all that scares me in you.

I’d be willing to try,

To take that leap

To love you as a whole,

To love you spirit and soul,

But to also love your body and ego,

To love the you that soars as well as

The you that crumbles.

Because all those parts of you,

Those parts are really

Me.

 

I found myself thinking about love last night. How frequently we focus our idea of love on another person, but the person we forget about loving so often is ourselves. I think because we tend to focus on what is wrong with ourselves, at least I do and it can be difficult to love someone with so many flaws. Yet that is my greatest task to learn how to love myself, not just the parts I enjoy but all the parts.

If you could write a message to yourself what would it be?