Twelve years ago today, my husband and I were married in a small, outdoor ceremony.

The weather was gorgeous. The setting was lovely. We were a match made in heaven.

Except it wasn’t perfect, and I really like perfect. Don’t you?

Are there chapters, pages, and paragraphs of your story you’d like to rip out and rewrite? Parts that somehow taint the perfect fairy tale you hoped life would be?

I’ve learned that perfect is a sham.

Pining for perfection leads to a constant state of dissatisfaction. It makes us jealous or judgmental, bitter or braggadocious. Worst of all, it prevents us from seeing the beauty that shows up because of the imperfection ~

The bond between my children and their step-father. The friendship I’ve grown to have with my ex-husband. The joy of being grandma to my step-son’s little boy. The laughter around a table filled with a mixed bag of folks who somehow became family. The endless love my husband has for me, faults and all.

The Japanese created a delightful concept known as wabi-sabi. The philosophy is rooted in ancient tea ceremonies where handmade cups were deliberately shaped irregularly and glazed unevenly to highlight their beauty and function despite obvious flaws.

Simply put, wabi-sabi is accepting things as they are, knowing that the beauty lies in the imperfection.

It is the antithesis of selfie filters, Botox, mass-production, McMansions, liposuction, and brand-spanking new. Consider the patina on the arm of a wooden chair, laugh lines, the frayed edge of your favorite jeans, silvery strands of hair, well-worn leather boots, a crooked smile, a wildflower, a renewed spirit, a mended heart.

Making peace with imperfection means seeing the beauty in life exactly as it is. It’s not Hallmark or Hollywood. It’s real, and it’s wonderful.

My husband and I are celebrating our anniversary today. My gift to us both is to finally and fully embrace every word of our perfectly imperfect love story exactly as it is written.

“Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite.”

Think On These Things ~ Alicia