Wholeness does not mean perfection; it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.
Parker J. Palmer
Brokenness
My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
2 Comments
Earl
Interesting quote that can be read in more than one way—I read it as saying the attempt to be whole by excluding your brokenness is the actual trap. You end up spending your energy managing the appearance of having no cracks, instead of living a fuller, more honest life that includes them. But I feel it’s the kind of line that lands differently depending on where someone’s standing.
Lovely photo of the shadows, and it works well with the quote. Have a good weekend, Monte.
Monte Stevens
Yes, those people who believe they are perfect and whole are in a trap. I personally put a lot of effort to hide my brokenness, even what I thought was my brokenness, early in my life. I failed to attempt many things in life because I didn’t want to be a failure or seen as a failure and therefore imperfect. I now see that being perfectly imperfect is more a gift, a beautiful way to live life. Some of the most beautiful people I know have a lot of brokenness in their life. We could almost say that to be whole we need to be broken, learn from it and grow to be more. Again thanks for your perspective.
I posted this photo because I liked it but I then saw it differently when you said it worked well with the quote. Because the quilt was made by a friend of mine named Judith who died of brain cancer almost 20 years ago. I now see the symbolism of the quilt showing the wholeness of the quilt is made of many pieces, old pieces of worn out Levi’s and other scraps of material.
It seems to be hot all over the country, so I hope you are staying cool.