Striving for Perfection

What does perfect look like? Your idea of a perfect day, painting or smile is likely different than mine. Perfect is defined by the beholder. It's a feeling we have about how something changes us.

Some things are defined as perfect, like a perfect game in baseball. Or, a car made to exacting specifications. But, even those could be better. The perfect game could be shorter, with fewer pitches, on a nicer day. It could be a one hit game with better hot dogs. Like perfect, the definition of better varies for each of us.

An element of perfection often overlooked in favor of specification is effort. The amount of care, generosity and emotional labor poured into something matters. We can tell when someone's smile is underserved. And we notice when the waiter pours themselves into personal service even though the meal comes up short.

Caring enough to act as if it might be perfect for someone is work worth doing. Because we might get lucky, and it might just work.