As far as I have seen, people seem to assume (whether consciously or sub-consciously) that perfection means absence of something, such as the absence of mistakes, difficulty or inconvenience. But perfection is actually the presence of something. It means completion, and true completion has texture, a texture forged out of those moments that seem to be so much less than perfect.
Another word we often use as the synonymous equivalent of perfection is happiness. In a similar way, happiness does not lie in the absence of sorrow but in the completion of self. Besides, if you think about it, sorrow is really just an emotional acknowledgement of the existence of a void. We are all just trying to fill in the holes we can sense in our souls. Either that, or we spend our lives pretending they don't exist. (not recommended for your long-term health) To me, that is the real definition of ignorance. *Ignorance: Purposeful (whether conscious or sub-conscious) avoidance of truth in order to sidestep responsibility.
Responsibility hurts. That moment when you realize most of the frustrating things happening in your life are your fault, and you gotta pick up the stride, or get trampled by your own guilt. It can be overwhelming, but it's also exciting. We are in so much more control of the elements of our lives than we realize. We as human beings are naturally vulnerable; any defense we put up comes from trying to manage our fears, hurts and disappointments. With this innate state of vulnerability comes an impressionability. So much of what we do is a reaction to what we experience. When we stop reacting and start acting we will really come to understand ourselves. Our agendas, our sense of morality, and general life perspective come initially in a reactionary form and will never really be absorbed into the psyche until they exist separately from their original source. This is why we need repetition in our lives.
In Institute the other day we were talking about the final judgement and this scripture in Alma 11:43 came up.
The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
Simply put, until we have a clear understanding of the role we have in our own lives, aka "a bright recollection of our guilt", we will never progress beyond the bare minimum. True mediocrity only exists because we turn a blind eye to our own responsibilities and capabilities. In most cases, we shirk in our responsibility to accept how cool we each are, and that just causes problems because in an effort to fill the void in other ways, it breeds desperation and selfishness.
Because the gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect, the principles and doctrine of Christ apply on the large scale and the small scale. On the large scale, judgement is the final awareness that is part of the plan of salvation, part of the plan that gets us back to God to live in glory and true happiness for eternity. On a smaller scale judgement, in its real and truest form, is the birth of a second chance. It redirects and spreads the energy of the emotion we placed into one type of thought and opens the way to choosing another path, one that is more beneficial.
Weakness and its consequences place us in an emotional environment that allows us to see more clearly our
Music is the same way. Every mistake in the practice room, every flubbed performance is an opportunity for the brain to create new synapses that are more conducive to the type of performance we are trying to create. Mistakes tend to be something we try to avoid with an iron will, but I think once we embrace them as part of the process, we will be able to use the energy spent on worrying to seek for perspectives that uplift and build.
One more thought on judgement and weakness. Judgement does not define who we are, it actually exists outside of our identity. It serves a function to provide clarity and knowledge, but it doesn't mean we should kick ourselves. It is really a hopeful situation. It facilitates true evolution.
