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The Perils of Trying to Perfect Ourselves (Another Leunig Cartoon)

by Michael on August 24th, 2010

 

For those of us still working diligently to become enlightened by removing the “blemishes” of being human, another cartoon by Australian cartoonist, Michael Leunig. Enjoy!

 

 

My advice? Don’t try too hard. Within our humanity may be where the treasure lies…

For another Leunig cartoon related to authenticity, see “You are Your Path”.

Were you interested in spending an enjoyable evening curling up with a Michael Leunig book, you may want to explore this assortment of books on Amazon.

See also the collection of quotations related to “Personal Authenticity Expresses as Wholeness, Not Goodness” and also “Self Actualization vs. Self-Image Actualization”.

 

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Categories: Psychological Wholeness ~ Tags: wholeness - ~ View Comments

 

  • http://theconsciouslife.com Conscious Life

    I love this cartoon. Yes, we can indeed try too hard to attain “marshmallowdom”. But that doesn’t mean giving up on ourselves and resigning to our fate. By being aware of our states, thoughts, beliefs and whatever is going on in our head, we become more conscious of why we do and not do what we are doing. With this realization, without even trying, we catch hold of ourselves and stop dead. This form of “improvement” comes naturally and more long-lasting perhaps. :)

  • Michael

    Thanks for your thoughtful sharing. I agree. The issue is not whether or not we should seek to “improve”, but HOW we will go about doing so. Such “imperfections” are not removed by combing them out of(repressing them from)our awareness, but rather embracing them and inquiring into them with the embrace of Presence. Moreover any attempt to conform to an IDEA of “perfection” is an effort towards self-image realization, not self-realization.

  • http://personal-authenticity-project.com/everybodys-black-swan Everybody’s Black Swan

    [...] From childhood we are trained to fit into society as “good” persons. Yet being socialized is only an initial stage of development. Being “good” by denying, cutting off, repressing parts of ourselves seems simply a matter of psychological tidiness (see also The Perils of Trying to Perfect Ourselves Leunig Cartoon). [...]

  • http://personal-authenticity-project.com/path-cartoon-leunig You are Your Path (Cartoon by Leunig)

    [...] The Perils of Trying to Perfect Ourselves (Another Leunig Cartoon) [...]

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On Authenticity:

I must be myself. I cannot break myself any longer for you, or you. If you can love me for what I am, we shall be the happier. If you cannot, I will still seek to deserve that you should. I will not hide my tastes or aversions. I will so trust that what is deep is holy, that I will do strongly before the sun and moon whatever inly rejoices me, and the heart appoints. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), in “Self Reliance”

About …

The Personal Authenticity Project is a blog authored by Michael Nagel MA. The Project explores the practice of personal authenticity. Your comments help to clarify the meaning, practice, and relevance of personal authenticity.