Perfection is an idea that we’ve all become infatuated with. Everyone wants to achieve “perfect” grades or “perfect” hair or date the “perfect” person, but in reality, what is perfection? Or rather, what has the meaning of “perfect” become in today’s society? Recently, I read an article entitled “20 words that once meant something very different.” It got me thinking; just how much have certain words changed over the years? Language is constantly evolving, which I’m not saying is a bad thing, but the original intent or meaning of words become lost through translation.
If you search up the word “perfection” on Google, you will get a few different results.
Search it up on any other website and you get about the same thing. Overall, perfection is being complete, whole, amazing, the epitome of what everything and everyone should strive to be. But what I want to focus on is a certain definition provided by the lovely Google; “a person or thing perceived as the embodiment of perfection.” I don’t know about you, but one of my greatest pet peeves is asking someone for the definition of a word and having that person answer using the word in the definition.
For example, I ask my friend Joe, “Hey, Joe, could you tell me what a rocket launcher is?” Joe then replies, “You know, it’s something that launches rockets.” Purely agitating. Before I attempt to strangle my friend Joe, let us move on.
The fact that not even Google can describe a perfect person without using the word itself is interesting to me. (Google knows everything, right?) This faulty definition means that a perfect person is undefinable. Thus, if a perfect person cannot be defined, does it mean that such a person can still exist? Can a perfect anything exist?
If perfection requires that no flaws, faults, or defects be present, is there anything on our planet that we can consider perfect? We are flawed, our government is flawed, our education is flawed, even the very laws of physics and other sciences that govern our everyday lives hold flaws. So why did we invent a word for such an unattainable standard in the first place? Well, let’s take a step back.
The suffix of the word, “per-,” means “thorough” or “very.” The root of the word, “-fect,” means “make” or “do.” Putting these two together, “perfect” essentially means to make/do something thoroughly or very well. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? I’m sure we can all do things thoroughly, but that doesn’t exactly make us perfect. How very strange.
Go back a little bit further to when the word “perfect” had not even been introduced. Before “perfect,” the word “complete” was commonly used. Although, “complete” was not used to describe a state of being. (You would not hear anybody telling another they had a “complete body” or a “complete personality.”) It was mostly used to describe objects, such as “a complete set of doors,” or “a complete pasture of pigs.” Eventually, “perfect” went on to take the meaning of “complete” with the additional meaning of “without flaw.”
Many people look to the Bible for the blame of instilling such an unattainable standard. But the fault does not lie there, either. In the Bible, “perfect” is used several times, but not in the sense that we do today. There are several different interpretations of the word “perfect.” Depending on the passage, it can mean “innocent,” “mature,” or “sinless,” to name a few. In those times, all of these traits would have made up a person who can be considered perfect. But this still does not embody the ideal of a flawless being we so commonly associate with the word today.
So when did we start coining the term “perfect” to describe human beings? And when did we start letting not being “perfect” determine our self-worth and give us panic attacks? The answer to that is quite unclear, as it is probably the result of several decades or even centuries of conditioning. Perfection was sought after in Victorian times, and was not exlusive to any one country. Women in bound their feet and wore neck rings, dating back centuries, in order to achieve a certain ideal. So despite popular belief, it is not the media entirely at fault for pressing impossible standards on us. The fault (my dear Brutus) is in our language itself.
I know you’ve had enough of my self-help advice, but I really do want to end off by telling you all not to be too hard on yourselves. I know what it is to live the life of a perfectionist; we are our own worst critics. But give yourself a break. There’s nothing wrong with being flawed. Our flaws are what make us unique, they are what allow humans to create, love, and inspire.