Imperfection as Art

Make it a Wabi Sabi day.

My client was preparing for a speech in front of a very large audience.  A seasoned speaker, he had mastered his material, enjoyed a strong online following, and absolutely exuded confidence. He was also very human. 

Concerned about how well he would perform, he wondered if his audience of peers would accept his point of view.  In truth, as a high performer, he was experiencing what we often do before a high-stakes event: anxiety about making a mistake.

I reminded him of Wabi Sabi, the Japanese concept of accepting imperfection as a way to enhance the beauty of any creative form.  Imagine a sight crack in a beautiful vase, or an accidental pause in a speech - cleverly used for reflection and recentering. In fact, creatives schooled in Wabi Sabi may intentionally introduce an error to bring more humanness into an otherwise un-relatable performance.

He relaxed and gave himself permission to be human; if he made a “mistake”, so be it.  He knew when he focused on speaking from his heart, the words - and the audience’s experience - could be nothing short of transformative.

The lesson here is that if you worry about giving a perfect performance, you can instead remember that “errors “are part of what can make any creative expression more human and inherently beautiful. Ironically, that mindset leads to some of the most “perfect” performances of all.

So, how can you allow yourself to be a bit imperfect? As an act of daily self-care, try bringing a little Wabi Sabi into what you do and you, too, will relax.