Written by Ann Pietrangelo on Friday, October 8th, 2010 in Inside the Maze.
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
I first noticed this quotation on my son’s Facebook page a few months ago. Brilliant! This one simple sentence captured the philosophy I believe with all my heart.
Did my son come up with that, or was he quoting some genius? A quick search was all it took to come up with the answer. The words came courtesy of the late Marilyn Monroe, and it turns out that my son didn’t know that — he just knew it felt true.
Of course it does. You see, my son long ago set his sights on becoming a professional wrestler. “Ridiculous,” some would say. It’s “mad!” In fact, some did say it. Still do. But he’s doing it. He’s a young man unafraid to pay his dues and not prone to concern himself about ridicule.
There is a certain madness to his genius and he is well on his way to achieving his dream. He’s always been a bit shy, but when he takes on his wrestling persona, he reaches out to the crowd, playing the heel with unbridled enthusiasm, forcing fans to react and take sides, usually against him. That’s okay with him. It only means he’s doing his job well.
They say you’re supposed to inspire your kids, but it tuns out that you are more likely to be inspired by them. I’ve got three, and they’ve each done something I didn’t expect of them; they’ve each beaten obstacles that, at times, seemed too enormous to overcome.
They’ve all taught me to accept life’s imperfections — and my own — and find the beauty in those imperfections. At times, I could be classified as quite mad, but genius is in the eye of the beholder. There is no satisfaction in being boring. Yes, I most definitely would rather be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.
I’m Facebook friends with a man who attended grammar school with me. He saw that I “liked” a wrestling event and expressed his surprise. Even in grammar school it was apparent that I’m just not the kind of person you would expect to be a wrestling fan. “Life does take interesting turns,” I wrote back. Indeed it does.
Thank you, kids. Thank you, Marilyn. Life’s lessons come from the most unexpected sources. Here’s to imperfection and madness and absolute ridiculousness.
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” – Marilyn Monroe
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