Perfectly Imperfect

“Perfectly Imperfect”
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 x 1.5 in

I'm going to be vulnerable here...

I have always struggled with self-image and self-confidence. I have hated myself for how I looked for as long as I can remember. I know a lot of people struggle with this also. We live in a society that thrives on us feeling bad about ourselves... yet we can't help it. When I was growing up, I didn't feel the world was accepting of me because I wasn't tall or skinny. 

Finally, at 34 years old... I can say I've been able to accept myself more than ever before. It's allowed me to learn how to really love myself from an honest and deep place. 

I wish I could go back in time and tell my younger self that perfection isn't real and seeking it will only make you unhappy... but I probably wouldn't have listened. But I can listen to myself and love and accept myself and my life in this moment. And even in the moments when it's hard to.

This original abstract painting I painted with my hands, and you can see the physical marks I made with my fingers and nails in the paint. Soft purple and yellow colors  dance around the light and the dark parts, like the parts of ourselves we find hard to accept and lightness we feel when we finally do. 

Here's the accompanying poem:

"Things don't have to be perfect
to be happy

People don't have to be perfect
to be worth loving

This painting was featured in Laura Mitsu's debut solo exhibition "Poetic Abstraction" in April-May 2024 in San Francisco, CA.