Perfect Imperfection

If you are like me and often feel the need to “control” all the variables, this story is for you.

What I am about to share is the story behind the Hands Free Mama logo that you see at the top of my website.  For me, it is much more than a logo. For me, it symbolizes the beautiful result of letting go of perfection and control.

The story of my logo goes like this…

-Those are my hands forming the misshapen heart. Unlike the way I have lived most of my life, I did not prepare a detailed plan about how I was going to pose my hands for this photo. But as you might have guessed, my hands were supposed to resemble a perfectly shaped heart.

Before I became Hands Free, I would have had to re-do this photo until the heart was perfectly formed.  But seeing it through my new Hands Free perspective, this misshapen heart demonstrates the true meaning of Hands Free. Letting go of perfection gives you the ability grasp, experience, see, and feel what really matters in life like joy, connection, grace, forgiveness, and personal growth. And the end result? Why of course, it is love; loving yourself and the people around you without restraint.

-Those are my daughters’ hands covering my own. The girls were tired at the time and ready to go home. There were more than a few “Why do we have to do this?” questions and “Are we done now?” moans. But two short months later, my seven-year-old-asks, “Can we read your blog, today, Mama?” And the four-year-old regularly makes a heart shape with her hands when we drive in the car. I especially treasure the day she lifted her heart shaped little hands and called out, “My hands can make something beautiful, Mama!” Oh yes, sweet girl, oh yes, they can.  If my daughter’s revelation is the only thing comes from this Hands Free journey, I will be fulfilled.

-The photo was taken by my husband, Scott…not by a professional photographer. My husband knows nothing about perspective, backlighting, diffraction, or contrast, and neither do I (hence the reason I just Googled “basic photography terms”). But the way the sunlight illuminates the clean lines of our hands in contrast to the tattered brown bark of the tree, I would have thought my husband has been taking photography classes on the sly.

-The idea for my title, Hands Free, was discovered within a pile of over fifty sheets of paper filled with jagged manuscript written by a woman who dreams best when she processes life while running on a treadmill.

I had written these words for some reason off to the side of a detailed story idea, but months later, I couldn’t quite remember why. On the day I searched for a title, the words seemed to be written in glowing letters just waiting for me to find them.  In that moment, Hands Free Mama came to life…in so many ways.

-The title and tag line merged with my image through the talents of a man I have never met. Although his computer skills are completely mind boggling, I have learned that his skills as a father and as a husband are even more astonishing. Simply as an act of kindness, this man graciously used his own valuable time and skill to create this beautiful logo for me. I speak of angels on this journey. He is mine.

So now you have the unplanned, yet incredible, story behind the creation of my Hands Free Mama logo.  And there is a term for what happened here.

It is what I call perfect imperfection.

The reason the elements of my logo fit together so beautifully, so complementary is because they were not planned.  They were not thought out in a twenty-step flow chart or Venn diagram the way I have lived my life for far too long.

For once in my life, I allowed something to develop on its own.

For once in my life, I surrendered control.

For once in my life, I simply let go.

I went Hands Free. And the fact that it turned out so extraordinarily confirms that life should be lived this way.

Just imagine if you let all areas of life just BE instead of trying to create the end result that you want or that you imagine.

You will often hear me say that I am simply the messenger on this Hands Free journey. And it is by the grace of God that I have a message to give.

Today, and for all the days to follow, my message is this: perfect imperfection is a beautiful sight to behold. In fact, it can change the way you look at life….if you simply let it.

How often do you allow the events of your day simply happen without planning or premeditation?  How often do you ‘throw caution to the wind’ and just do something silly, crazy, fun, or spontaneous?  I sure would love to hear your “Perfect Imperfection” story. And if you don’t have one, tomorrow is a new day. And I bet there is a child, a significant other, or a friend who would be a willing partner on your quest to fulfill that misshapen heart that beats inside us all.