I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next.
Delicious Ambiguity.–Gilda Radner
If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.
–Leo Tolstoy/Anna Karenina
Perfect? Is there ever such a thing?
I believe that there are a lot of perfect things. There’s a catch, though–they’re ephemeral, and they sneak up on you. Maybe if they’re so temporary they aren’t truly perfect, or maybe they’re perfect precisely because they don’t last. I prefer to think that there are perfect moments. A lot of them. It’s hard to catch all of them.
What do I think is perfect?
Falling in love for the first time. The first warm Spring day. The way the sunlight looks when it streams through Fall leaves. Listening to a baby laughing. Getting into a freshly made bed when you’re exhausted. Drinking a really good cup of coffee while looking out at the ocean. Firelight reflecting off the face of someone you love. Having someone get your obscure book reference and not only laugh, but feed one back to you. When your co-workers tell you they completely failed to maintain your usual high standards of sarcasm while you were on vacation, but they tried because they missed you. Seeing a friend unexpectedly. First kisses. Cold water when you are really thirsty. The way it feels when someone brushes your hair out of their eyes because they want to see you better. The 2 seconds when all the laundry is washed and put away and there are no dirty clothes left. Laughing until your stomach hurts. Getting to the last page of a wonderful book and the ending is exactly right.
Things that are transcendent. Things that are beautiful. Things that are only fleeting moments. Part of our normal lives. All over the place. Every day.
Things that are perfect.
But you have to be looking. Not looking for perfection, but just being open to seeing it when it sneaks by.
You have to be there.