Poem & Poem Reflection

Perfection

Ammon Taylor
Have we been deceived?
The sweet scent of temptation, intoxicating as it may seem
The shell is so simple
Yet the deep inner core ever elusive sadly proves to be
When will this slow realization, this pure revelation break forth
and bless my eyes?
When will this enlightening wisdom permeate my thoughts,
when can these actions
enrich other's lives?
The anticipation of impossible transcendence
This profound longing for the transformation
The ascendance from finite to infinite
Haunts me through every waking thought
How much longer must I wait?
Dear God, I implore you, insatiable as my beseechment may seem
Please let my weary soul have the strength
To shatter these shackles, please let your imperishable truth set me free
Would time and space meld into one?
Would there be room to learn and grow?
Would my emotions cease to be?
What creature would I then become?
Have I been deceived?
The sweet scent of perfection, intoxicating as it may seem
The shell is so simple
Yet the deep inner core ever elusive sadly proves to be
This equivocation of perfection, this paradox consumes me

***

Imaging living a life where it was not only others that demanded constant excellence from you, but a life where you yourself believed that everything you produced was not up to an acceptable standard: living a life where you criticized yourself to a point of near delusion. This is the life depicted to us in this poem and one that many people endure.

In psychology perfectionism is viewed as the belief that work that is any less than perfect is unacceptable. To a certain extent, perfectionism can aid to achieve standards of greatness but in most cases, as is demonstrated in the poem, being a perfectionist can often lead to anxiety, fear of failure or self-deprecation.

Ammon Taylor, the author of the poem, speaks of the desire to attain perfection much in the same way that Edith Schaeffer does; perfection, to the outer eye, tempts and intrigues, but once it is delved into and chased after, it becomes something far more dangerous and harmful than we first suspect. Oftentimes anything produced by a perfectionist will appear to everyone else as being high quality work, but to the creator it is viewed as being extremely sub-par. While perfectionists have a more acute need to be peerless in everything they do, those that don't suffer from perfectionism can also feel the overwhelming pressure to succeed.

It's often hard to try and see beyond the lure of chasing after perfection, but once done, the burden of never being pleased with everything you create and, ultimately, never being pleased with yourself, is lifted. By the end of the poem, the author describes her willingness to move beyond the painful, standstill world of self-torment. The knowledge that you will not always be successful in everything you do is gained, and that is it's okay to not always succeed in all your endeavors. When this idea has been accepted, there also comes the enlightening idea that when you are limitless in the things that you can try, a world of possibility and self-growth opens up...