Upon looking at a vase, one may come to the assumption that this intricately crafted, hollow case of glass is simply perfect. Flawless. And to the naked eye, it is. But beneath the surface of the fragile glass holds a series of miniscule imperfections. All bunched together, holding on, awaiting the day when the load may become too much, and it will break. Shattering into many different pieces. Big and small, but all equally as broken.

All my life I have struggled with the idea of perfection, finding it worldly impossible for anything to lack even the simplest of flaws — and yet I strived to reach the idea of being flawless. I constantly wished to be academically smarter than I felt, more talented in activities and equally as achieved as others in certain aspects of life. The introduction of social media aided to this deep down insecurity I had of wanting to be flawless in a flawed world. Numerous influencers whom I strived to be just like, post endless photos and snapshots of their day on platforms for all to see, forgetting to include the real aspect of it all. The aspect that these people who paint a picture perfect life, have their own flaws that they neglect to project onto the Internet, creates false realities for young and naive minds like my own. 

As a child, days filled with anxiety was not an uncommon theme for me, but the term itself was uncommon for other kids my age. Ultimately engraving the idea that I was different than most, something a young girl never wants to feel. Multiple relationships came and went through the dreaded years of growing up, leaving me to believe something was wrong with the way I acted, thought or simply was as a human. My friends couldn’t understand why anxiety took over whenever something unfamiliar occured, and frankly, neither could I. Leaving me in an endless cycle of relationships, attempts to change my ways and learning how to cope with the constant butterfly feeling in my chest. 

But amongst all the covering up and trying to be someone I was simply not, I missed the part of me who didn’t care about perfection. Ultimately guiding me to the golden realization: perfection is perfectly overrated. All of the people in the world have their own set of miniscule imperfections, blind to the naked eye, buried beneath a flawless shell that is set on display for others to see. What may seem or look perfect to watching bystanders will someday crack and shatter, similar to the flawless vase. Attempting to be flawless in a flawed world is impossible. Our flaws are what shape our personalities, experiences and make us who we are. Without them, our world would be bland and boring, lacking what makes us unique, leading to the day when we all crack and shatter.