Perfectionism has been called the hidden epidemic of the 21st century, particularly affecting the younger generation in societies that have embraced the culture of competitiveness that is fostered by a free economy.

In their thirties, they form the largest workforce and are redefining the workplace. While they claim competitiveness is in their DNA, they are also called the “anxious generation” and even the “burnout generation”, who set themselves impossible standards. Their driving force is the desire for perfection, validation from peers and the inevitable fear of failure.

This intense need for perfection is often shadowed by what has been called the ‘imposter syndrome’ — a belief that the success of a person was the result of luck rather than a recognition of their abilities, and the fear that they will be discovered to be not as capable as people assume them to be. They have an inability to internalise success.

First observed in women in high positions at work or in academia, it came to include minorities. More recent studies show that just as many men also experience the anxiety of the imposter syndrome.

An obsession with perfection seems a far cry in Pakistani society, where the concerns of the younger generation, according to a 2017 World Economic Survey, are lack of economic opportunity, unemployment, poverty, inequality and the lack of education.

However, imposter syndrome may be seen in the pressure to fulfil socially defined roles — the perfect wife, husband, ideal son or daughter — where the same fear of falling short of high expectations causes anxiety, fear of disappointment and unhappiness.

The irony is that no one has been able to define perfection, which in itself remains an elusive, ever-changing idea.

The term originates from the Latin perfectio and the Greek teleos which simply means completing something. The idea of perfection as flawless excellence evolved in 14th century Europe and is a fanciful leap from Aristotle’s definition of perfection as a state where nothing can be added and nothing taken away.

Plato in his Theory of Forms was very clear that perfection was an abstract ideal, unachievable in the material world. All objects are only shadows of their true forms. Islamic philosophy refers to the invisible or abstract al-ghayb and the visible al-shahadah that exists in the material world. The farsh or earthly manifestation is a mere reflection of the arsh or divine.

Devotional Islamic art, which is essentially al-shahadah or a witness of Allah’s creation, avoids the implied arrogance of creating perfection by leaving deliberate flaws in, for example, carpet patterns or subtle incorrect angles in the geometric patterns of architecture. Rumi warns, “There is no worse malady in your soul… than the conceit of perfection.”

Stephen Hawking says perfection is static and unchangeable. Evolution in nature takes place because of mutations or imperfections. According to him, “Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist… the universe doesn’t allow perfection.”

The arts have always understood that the true stories of life are revealed in imperfections — a gnarled tree, a wounded soldier, a face lined with sorrow. The Japanese practice of wabi sabi incorporates deliberate imperfections, asymmetry, roughness, cracks, honouring the transience of nature.

The artist may dispense with refined skills to convey an emotion. Van Gogh’s painting The Starry Night depicts the vastness of nature always in motion. Arnold Schoenberg’s atonal music expresses the disturbing uncertainty of his times. Anselm Kiefer’s crusted grey canvases “bear the burden of history” and Reshma’s gravelly voice conveys sorrowful longing.

Perfection is the lodestone, the magnet that guides us, a reference point that keeps our imbalance in balance, thereby creating Perfect Imperfection.

As Leonard Cohen says, “There’s a crack in everything/ That’s how the light gets in.”

Durriya Kazi is a Karachi-based artist.
She may be reached at durriyakazi1918@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, February 5th, 2023