Destroying Perfect

Perfection is an illusion

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Nobody’s perfect. We know this, intellectually. Still the thought entices: Maybe if I work hard enough I could be?

So we hold ourselves to impossible standards. And fail. Then we resent ourselves for trying.

But we’re not done with perfection. No, we’re just beginning.

If we’re not able to be perfect, why not make something perfect instead?

All we need to do is write each line perfectly, play each note perfectly, craft each brushstroke perfectly…

Or destroy all evidence we tried.

But who would want to read a perfect book anyway? What would be the point of a perfect painting? Would a perfect piece of music even spark a feeling?

Give me messiness, unevenness, and imperfection instead. I want to see evidence of the distance between an artist’s talent and their ambition. And the leap they took to bridge this gulf.

That’s where the excitement lies.

I want art that asks questions with no perfect, tidy answers. Art that lives, and breathes, and celebrates being alive.

And the great thing is, we’re all capable of making imperfect art. Of living imperfect lives.

That’s where our humanness lies.

But if you do accidentally, improbably, happen to bake that perfect cake—please invite me over for a slice.

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I drew this comic for a collaboration with author Jon Acuff, inspired by his book FINISH: GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF DONE.

It appears in my book I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF.

Posters are available at my shop.