Perfectly Imperfect

On a recent trip to the library, I was browsing the sale books and free magazines when I noticed some covers that seemed a little older than the rest.  I pulled them from the stack to find that they were old photography magazines.  The first half of each magazine was devoted to articles on improving photography skills and ads selling photography equipment.  The last half of each magazine was devoted to amateur photographer's submissions to the magazine.  While a few of them were tasteful landscapes and portraits, most of them were nudes--some artistic, most sub-par even for amateurs.

I suspect most of these nudes were taken, submitted, and published with less than admirable and artistic intentions, but the skill or lack thereof displayed by these photos isn't really what I want to discuss.  Rather, what caught my eye, was the wide range in body and facial features on display in these photos.  It was such a marked departure from the current trend of cookie-cutter looks on parade in movies and social media today that I spent several long minutes appreciating the variety since I couldn't appreciate the "art." 

There were no perfect bodies, only natural, healthy, normal ones, and while they were all different, they were attractive, fairly symmetrical, and diverse.  If anything, it was the imperfections that made them interesting and worth looking at longer.  In a world of artificial perfection, it was refreshing to see so many real people, each different from the others instead of all eerily the same.  This pretty plastic world, has really grown into a monster just in my lifetime and I can't wrap my head around it.  I like the imperfections, including my own, which is why I have always been dead set against plastic surgery or straightening my teeth, even though many dentists have plied with the phrase, "are you happy with your smile the way it is?"   Most recently when asked, I replied, "I'm 41 darlin' and I've been to hell and back. I'm happy that I can even keep smiling, my teeth don't bother me at all."

So, in honor of imperfections, I thought I would post some photos today that nearly went into the recycle bin, because they just weren't perfect.  No one gets it right all the time and no one is perfect, no matter how hard we try.  So why not appreciate our differences, our imperfections which create uniqueness and just relax a bit and cut ourselves a break from time to time.