I’m enjoying reading Adam Grant’s new book Hidden Potential where he reflects on finding the sweet spot between “flawed and flawless.” Meaning, it’s important to recognize that human beings and our world are neither broken nor perfect.
As an illustration he shares a legend about a young man who wanted to learn the Japanese tea ceremony. To begin, he was given a test to clean up the garden.
The young man set to the task and picked up sticks, raked the leaves, and pulled up the weeds until everything looked perfect. But then looking upon his work, the young man felt something was missing. So he walked over to a cherry tree and shook it so flower pedals fell to the ground.
Grant writes, “By finding the beauty in imperfection [the young man] showed he was ready to become a master. This legend traces back to the sixteenth century, when the Japanese tea ceremony underwent a seismic shift. Immaculate dishes were replaced with chipped bowls. People drank from pottery that was worn and weathered. They called this practice wabi sabi. Wabi sabi is the art of honoring the beauty in imperfection.”
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