The Notion of Perfection

A short piece that helped me reflect on the events of 2012, loosing my father but also recognizing in death just how important he was to me and the world around him.

THE IDEA OF PERFECTION:

My dad always used to say that; no goal in life is ever worth chasing unless that “thing” you seek, is something you know you cant live without. For as long as he was on this earth he chased those goals, and though his life was abruptly cut short, I think he want to say in his final breath that he achieved most if not all of those ambitions. A wife, who stood by him through everything and let him know that he was never crazy even when he felt so, two kids that showed him the pleasure of a pain in the a*s and the wonders of that primal gift known as fatherhood. A flourishing business, two beautiful homes and an enviable life from whichever angle you stood. My dad was 58 when he died, an unfittingly short life for a such a fitting man, perhaps the undesirable fate of all truly good men.

I often think about the idea of ‘perfection’ a word often used but perhaps, somewhat ironically never appropriately. Since the notion of perfection is a fundamental impossibility it would seem crazy that a human being, perhaps the most flawed of creatures should be deserving of such a title, but I would argue the case for my dad...

It took well over a decade for me to recognize what truly defines perfection. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t fame, nor fortune, faultlessness nor polish; identifying perfection is instinct, and an intuition that comes not from careful consideration but unquantifiable knowing. A perfect person looks at oneself and realizes that as a human being we are flawed and instead decides their purpose if bold enough to assume, is to relentlessly facilitate the lives of others. 

My dad just so happened to be one of those people, one of those unbelievable individuals who assumed the responsibility of helping those in need as if nothing more than a primal instinct. One of those people put on this earth for a short time so that we may distinguish the difference between good and bad, right and wrong. You see it matters little if you help one or a thousand people; instead it’s the spirit in which you choose to help others that deems whether you shall be gifted the title of perfection. This person must be someone who knows the true value of a dollar and yet gives his last to someone who needs it more; Someone who could be considered a hero, and yet spares us the awkward condescension of a flowing red cape. Instead these individuals, like my father, remain discreetly in the shadows, because they know that their acts were not tricks or shows, but human functions as natural and unconscious as breathing or seeing. My dad was alive for a short time, but like so many others lucky enough to come close to this accolade, their perfection only shortens their ticket to stay, so that we may appreciate just how much they did and could have done, had they stayed a little longer.

LOUIS SHAW 2012