I love that painted white thing that hangs on our mantel. I’ve dropped it 87 times. It’s broken. In more than one place. I like to think of the cracks and chips as beauty marks.  Marks that prove the item is loved just like the Velveteen Rabbit.

You don’t really notice it when it’s surrounded by other specimens of beautiful imperfection.

Someone will now email me and tell me that all I need to do is paint that broken part white and no one will ever notice.  I will tell them they missed the whole point of this post.

I see these chairs as a reminder of beauty yet to come. Have you ever noticed that there are 4 different colored half painted chairs at our table? Probably not.  I haven’t decided what color I want them yet. Dinners still taste just as good with half painted chairs.  Instead of feeling dread that I have not completed that project, I look forward to decideding what color I want them and enjoying the finished product.  And for the time being, I truly don’t mind to have them look like this.

see them? you are too busy looking at that crow, aren’t you?

This half painted wall is your classic case of procrastination.   Sometimes I wish imperfect things would bother me MORE.

This coffee table has seen all manner of toys scooted around on its surface.

But I don’t really notice the scratches and such when I’m not dwelling on them.

Even the manager at Home Goods told me not to purchase this cracked lamp.  I had been looking for months for a pair of large white lamps and I wasn’t gonna let something like a little crack hold me back.  Now I can feel less guilty when I crack it on the other side.

Insisting on perfection can cause us to stop and get nothing accomplished. Nothing is so much worse than something done good enough. Of course, we can apply this to anything from housekeeping, to business running.

What does accepting beauty marks have to do with Less Messy Nestiness?

You tell me.