Blue and white imperfect/wabi sabi shelfie

There’s something about imperfection that I profoundly love. It’s an aesthetic thing – there’s something that makes the world feel right when things are materially ‘wrong’ (I talk about this love of imperfection or ‘wabi sabi’ in my book, Shelfie).

But there’s more to it than that. I think it’s partly borne out of the fact that my own life has, at times, felt fundamentally imperfect in various ways.

Imperfection isn’t easy and comes with its own immense challenges but it also brings with it a sense of relief and absolution.

When everything is going right in life, the pressure is on to keep it that way: when you know things can go wrong (because they already have done), you eventually find yourself saying ‘That will do’ and realising it’s possible to make some peace with that.

Embracing imperfection is, I feel, the basis of contentment. I thought of this when I found this Staffordshire mantelpiece dog, not with its equal and opposite but on its lonesome.

When I went to pay for it, the shop keeper at Coastal Vintage in Aberystwyth in mid Wales told me he collects these singletons and has them displayed together. ‘They don’t stop being beautiful because they’re not in a pair anymore’, he said. I couldn’t agree more.

How about you? Do you feel that imperfect is perfect, too?

Martha, The Colour File x 

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