Some observations I've made, and my thoughts: discussion

So, I’ve observed this not only in myself but from others (both online and in person). People these days seem very unhappy with their lives, and seem to be always reaching for more… Or never satisfied enough.

A feeling of emptiness, numbness, pain, greed (for things like sex, attention, money, relationship, etc), among other things.

Important note, I word it as greed only due to the actions people will sometimes be willing to take to get their needs, wants and desires fulfilled - I do not see everything as greedy lol

So the first thing I will express. I’ve noticed alot of unhappiness with our state of being, and earth. A need for perfection. Some see that in the need to be enlightened (which won’t fix their problems), others in wealth and sex, and others in the need to have 100% control of their lives. Among other things.

Well here is my thoughts on that first part, there is perfection in the imperfection that is our world, and ourselves. The imperfection being things like pain, suffering, wars and violence as well as hunger. Being some examples. However here are some examples of various perfections to find within ourselves and our world.

Let’s start close to home, our bodies. Most of the time our bodies function well and allow us to experience our world without having to give much thought to most of our needs. By this I mean, breathing is semi-voluntary. For the most part you can go about your day without having to consciously make an effort to breathe every few seconds. Your body takes care of that for you. Now let’s move on to your heart, that heart transports oxygen and nutrients throughout your body without you having to give that a second thought, it also does other things but it’s primary function is as a biological pump. You don’t have to consciously pump your own heart. So already starting at, our bodies are a (in my opinion) perfection within itself. Yes things can and do go wrong but for the most part our bodies care for themselves and ALLOW YOU to experience life through it. Isn’t that wonderful?

Your skin let’s you feel things around and, and part of that (what so many people seem to love these days) is touch, and the intamacy that comes along with it. Your ears let you listen to music, birds, your family members and friends, etc. Your feet and legs (plus the other supportive structure) allow you to walk, and run… jump and various other things. You get to explore earth and move around freely. I could go on and on. That is a perfection within itself. It’s wonderful, yet so many people treat our bodies like something to escape from.

Now for the perfections within our world. Let’s start with nature… As is. Whenever you are out and about, or say walking on a forest preserve trail… Look around. Look at the trees, dirt, grass, various animals, and the birds. That’s perfection. Now look above you and see the air/sky. Wave your hand through it…does the air feel warm, cold, humid, dry? It’s a wonderful thing to experience through your senses.

During nighttime, you get to experience other wonders. Quiet, darkness which in my experience allows for time for reflection. A time to go within. If your ever outside of the cities, then during the night you get another wonder and perfection. The stars. That is one of the most amazing things. It’s celestial in of itself. Enjoy that, even if the only time you get to is on camping vacations (like me for instance lol).

Anyways I’ll wrap this up, maybe edit later… But I wanted to try and show some of the perfections within our imperfect world. Hopefully this will encourage people that our bodies are not worth escaping, and to exist and experience life is (in my opinion) the highest form of enlightenment.

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This is a bit of my personal gnosis on life, perfection and imperfection both in the spiritual and mudane

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I advance one step, you advance two steps. I advance two steps, you advance four steps.

What’s the use of Utopia? To make us walk

-Eduardo Galeano

No. Is not. Or you mean a word that is not perfection. The world is awesome, sure, but that’s not perfect. The concept of perfection, the lack of flaws, comes from very empirical sources (like seeing a bubble, a perfect sphere).

I think “awe” would be a better word to express what you mean here.

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I don’t see perfection as without flaws. To me, that is quite limiting. Perfection is the natural state of things. It’s the flow. That is perfection. Something can be flawed, and perfect. The “awe” is more of the reaction, but it is not the perfection.

For instance people might be at awe when they view Nature or it’s natural wonders, but does nature care? No, that’s a human thing. It’s humans that experience the emotions of awe, but nature is always within it’s flow, it just is. That’s what perfection is.

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But it is. Language is objective: there is a consensus on what words mean, since it is a common tool and everything has to be the same thing for everyone, in order to make use of such tool.

Otherwise you should give me the pastrami to reverb the acknowledgement of bird cakes!

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Except for that what people view as perfect is purely subjective.

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No, is not. The word has a definition, if what you say doesn’t fit that definition, then it isn’t the right word.

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That’s not completely true. People have a tendency to view say a new lover as “perfect”, because of their emtions and their view (although temporary) is subjective. So perfection can be subjective.

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Maybe beautiful and more than adequate despite its flawswould be better descriptors? I hardly find cancer pedophilia and rape "perfect "

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I said perfection within our imperfect world, I didn’t say everything is perfect? What I was trying to get it as, there is perfection within our world, even if it isn’t out in the open. So clearly there is bad, but there is also good and there is the stuff that is.

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What if you spent two more seconds choosing your words next time instead of trying to twist a consensus that’s meant to make everyone’s life easier?

Okay, I looked it up and it didn’t say word for word “without flaws” within the definition of perfection. My point still stands. I did not see that within the definition. So I’m not trying to twist stuff, please don’t assume that. I’m simply trying to convey what I observe, which isn’t easy to do.

a : freedom from fault or defect : FLAWLESSNESS

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The definition ( one I found) said state of completion, which is kinda my point. Our world is fully complete, the reality of our world. Despite humans effort to change it. So it still stands. I did (when looking through different definitions for it, there is more then one wording and variation of the definition) see the flawless, but that wasn’t the only one used.

Let me cite my link the to definitions I saw for the word. To clear up the matter.

NVM shows the definition, that should clear it up, being complete.

As the definition shows, I see our world as both complete and correct as it is (being the definition of perfection). Within it’s natural state. Obviously others might disagree but these are opinions all which are subjective to the person holding them. I see the imperfect and the perfect, I believe that the two can co-exist. Yeah not all of the world is good, but there are good parts of it (my post showed some examples)… So there is not perfection and imperfection within our world, and it is possible for both to co-exist. It’s not completely one or the other.

I also do not see perfection as a black and white type of thing, there’s alot of grey zones. It’s not a yes or no. There is middle ground. Within my experience.

Or maybe flaws aren’t really flaws, they’'re just conditions inherent to states of being. Just because we see things as having flaws doesn’t mean they have flaws or are actually flawed.

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Momentarily ignoring the debate over the meaning of words; I think I see the point you are trying to describe. There is joy and beauty to be found in small things, and/or in things we take for granted every day, like the functions of our own minds and bodies.

Perfect, perhaps meaning without flaws… perfectionism being achieved “when there is nothing left to take away”, when form and function work together beautifully.

There is intrigue and mystery and yes, perhaps even joy in the imperfection of world and self and the whole “being alive” thing in general. The nature of life. And reminds me of this post below – the Clockwork (lawful) and Serpentine (chaotic) forces. Would consciousness even exist without a mashup of the two? :thinking: (Or maybe I’ve just been reading too much Brandon Sanderson lately. Looking at you, Ruin and Preservation.)