Advice from my Mom: Not Perfect, Still Good

Mom and me, driving north through Scotland on our way to Isle of Skye

I was totally in the zone the other day, making this salad to go along with some homemade pizza; making sure that each diced piece of watermelon was the same size as my diced feta before putting them all in the bowl when I realized I was slowing but surely eating the “imperfect” pieces and I was reminded of something my mom used to always tell me when I was in the kitchen growing up.

She’d say “stop worrying so much about what it looks like. It’s not supposed to be perfect, it came from nature, it’s just supposed to taste good!”

This was a saying she’d tell me fairly often, because having a perfectionist in the kitchen means dinner takes far longer to make. I would always inspect every veggie before I cut it, and take the time to make sure each cut was just so, meanwhile, we had hungry family members waiting on dinner!

But this was a saying I took to heart. It’s also one I adapted as I got older. It comforted me when I would make a mistake of my own. Because I also came from nature and I wasn’t expected to be perfect, just good. Wether I was self-conscious of how I looked in a certain outfit or was just struggling to power through a particularly long day at work hearing my mom’s voice in my head reminding me I didn’t have to be perfect, just good. It always seemed to be the exact reminder I needed.

I know how fortunate I am that it’s my mom’s voice I hear in my head when I need guidance. I’m even luckier that I get to talk to her all the time to bounce ideas off of and get reminded of where I’ve been and where I want to be going on the days when both those points in time seem too far away for my own tired mind to comprehend.

And those not exactly perfect looking pieces of cheese taste just a good as the perfect looking ones. I should know, I ate both versions.

So as you go into the new week I hope that things go your way, and that even if they’re not perfect, they’re still good.

xo,

Kate