Present Over Perfect
And now that you don’t have to be
perfect, you can be good.
—John Steinbeck
The phrase present over perfect was one I first held tightly
to a few Christmases ago. I remember the moment: the table
was a train wreck of wrapping paper and unfolded laundry,
half-eaten cookies. My mind was running with all the
remaining tasks that needed to be done—gifts bought, cards
addressed, bags packed, deadlines reached.
To put it plainly: my desire for beautiful, sparkly
Christmas moments was edging out my ability to live well in
my own actual life, and I recognized this feeling as one I’d
grappled with all my life. I want things to be spectacular,
epic, over the top, exciting and dramatic. But in order to
force that beauty and drama into otherwise ordinary
moments, you have to push and tap dance and hustle,
hustle, hustle.
I was faced with a dilemma—one so many of us face
quite often: I could either wrestle my life and my kids and