This song tears down any defenses that may be temporarily erected in my life, every time I hear it.
Cohen has just nailed it on this one. I put the song here so that I can go to my blog, anytime, and remind myself that imperfection is the human condition ~ that it is, in fact, a boon. Obsessing about making the perfect offering defeats the very purpose for which offerings are made: to honor another. It is our imperfections, the cracks in our imagined perfection, that truly let the light in. Imperfections allow the vulnerability and openness that make it possible to really see someone else.
Then there is Hallelujah, which k.d. lang emotes to the bottom of her shoeless soles (soul).
If my energy is ebbing, these songs open the floodgates and creative power gushes forth.
It’s a blessing to be so suggestible.
Silverspring Studio 
KD is barefoot because she is standing on hallowed ground. I have the urge to remove my shoes when I go to the communion rail in our lovely Episcopal church. I’m not sure how it would be received, so I don’t, but it’s appropriate.
And thank goodness for the cracks. We all have them and they are truly how the light gets in. Perfection is way over rated. I don’t remember where I read it or who said it–“We are all perfect in our imperfections.” Perfection implies a sense of order and sameness that would make life terribly boring from my perspective. Our cracks give us all sorts of opportunities to create beauty and elicit deep thought and grow toward our true selves in a way static perfection denies.
Thank you, my dear beautiful friend, for sharing these two songs today.
hugs,
deb
I am delighted to see all the writing on imperfection these days because I am always, well, so imperfect. I maintain that original art should reflect the imperfection of non-machine made work. I like cracks in my clay pieces. My website will never reach the point where people point to it in awe.
But hey, that leaves me room to keep puttering and learning new things. As Brooke Castillo points out in her blog today…arrival may just mean that there is no more journey.
Imperfection beckons!
Thanks for the songs – which I didn’t know before.
This is one of my favorite Leonard Cohen songs/poems. His pieces are multi-dimensional; more an experience than a listening, he pulls one in to a place that is both one’s own – and his to share.
And when the listening is done, one is changed, altered, moved to a better place, with heightened awareness and a profound humility.
Wow! Two of my favorite artists and songs . . . lovely. I view myself as a “recovering” perfectionist and since passing over to the other side, I’m enjoying life much more!
All I would add is AMEN!!!!
Oh, I love you all (imperfectly, of course).
Take a look at the Mary and Max movie:
Linking today on my blog. xo
You are the best, Tammy.
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