A friend once wrote a song about how "people are like snowflakes." That concept popped into my head this morning as I watched the big juicy white flakes fall from the Southern sky. People are like snowflakes. No two of us alike. Yet, that doesn't stop us from trying.
How many ways do we hurt ourselves trying to be something that we're not: "perfect?" The media seems to beckon us constantly with new ways to keep up with the latest thing we "should" be doing or worrying about. The title of one of the most popular stories on NPR today says it all: Are You Overwhelmed? You Don't Have To Be.
The piece's author, Alva Noe, asserts that "The New Perfection" fuels our sense of being perpetually stressed out or overwhelmed- in an effort to "keep up." With what? It's constantly changing. The bottom line seems to be that things are broken and need fixing. Is it possible that we feel the need to improve every aspect of our lives more so today than we have in the past? And that cell phones and other devices we keep tethered to our person have something to do with this? I think so.
Noe concludes her piece with the observation, "The bottom line seems to be that we know too much, understand too little and we are way too scared of what we might be missing." Our frenzied attempts to be "perfect" prohibit us from reaching what I imagine to be the desired destination: happiness and connection with each other.
There is no need to "should" all over ourselves, as my Gestalt teacher used to say. Self-acceptance is the key. We're already perfect snowflakes right here in the present moment. Our attempts to behave otherwise, however well-meaning, ultimately keep us from ourselves and each other.
So, go ahead and unplug for a minute, an hour, or a day if you want to. Let your body and mind unwind. Enjoy the snowflakes, raindrops, sunshine, or whatever it is that the rest of us might miss out on while we're all too busy tweeting and blogging... ;~)
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