04/30/2026
A throwback gift of imperfectly perfect, with a whole lotta love.
Recently, a cross-border soul sister sent me this handcrafted mobile she made as a “care” gift to let me know she’s thinking of me during my recovery from this nasty Lupus “flare.” This gift was inspired by a warm FaceTime connection that inspired her artistic creativity with love, and my love for articulating expressed love.
The mobile was designed to hang from ceiling to ground so that the strung words would line up in the intended order for the declaration:
“I CHOOSE TO FIND MOMENTS OF PEACE AND JOY IN THE MIDST OF TODAY’S DAILY BREAD”.
So, this was the outcome – it hangs along my bamboo divider in my office, the only wall decoration I can install (hello, the divider leans against a wall, easy peasy!). The words are not lined up perfectly, and one has to read it from right to left - mind the upside down words too.
To me, this mobile and display as it is, reminds me of “The Beautiful Mess Effect” - the theory that people view their own vulnerability as weakness but others’ vulnerability as courage. It was developed by Anna Bruk, Sabine G. Scholl and Herbert Bless from the University of Mannheim (published in 2018 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and building on the work of Brene Brown) and a brilliant reminder gem that the beauty of “messy” lies in embracing authentic human experience, vulnerability, and imperfection over forced perfection. It recognizes that true creativity, growth, and joy emerge from chaos, allowing for genuine connections and spontaneous moments rather than curated, sterile and contrived aesthetics.
Messy is brilliantly beautiful. Human. Enriching. Meaningful. Here’s to blessings within and all around, where we recognize and appreciate the beauty in imperfectly perfect moments. Because they fortify our resilience, patience, acceptance, faith, growth and steadiness in peace, joy, love. Even and especially when we and “things” do not line up the way we expect or want them to. A beautiful life is like that.🤍