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When I moved to Munich, one of the first things I did was take a tour around the city centre. A gracious young Spanish lady was my guide and she eloquently shared the history of the places we were visiting. The story of Frauenkirche is one I will never forget, for she told us that this elegant cathedral has two towers that look identical but in fact, are not. One is 98,57 meters in height and the other 98,45 meters. Various tales explain this, I liked the one she told us the most. She explained this had been done on purpose as a reminder that perfection is only for God and not a human quality.

In a world where “man” has come to dominate almost every domain, this is a humble reminder of our shortcomings and an invitation to embrace the imperfections within us.

As a coach and consultant for entrepreneurs and in my creative pursuits, I have come to realise that many of us are paralysed by overthinking and planning, with the hope that everything will be “perfect” and turn out as planned. Rarely, if ever, do things turn out to be this way, as we live in an increasingly dynamic and uncertain world where many things are actually outside of our control. At the same time, it may be unreasonable to expect to have all the skills and resources to manage the situation perfectly.

In Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection, she explains that creativity acts as an engine that helps transform knowledge into practice, from our heads to our hearts and into our hands. So here is a thought: if we embrace “the creative” within us, accept that the creative process is messy, have patience through the trial and error process, embrace the imperfections within us as part of the learning, we may come to experience many of the gifts that “the imperfectionist” has in store for us.

References & going deeper:

Cathedral Church of Our Lady: All about the Frauenkirche Munich. Munchen.de

Blog Post | Austin Kleon. Just make something, anything, really. Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Book | Brene Brown. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. Hazelden Publishing. 27 August 2010.