In certain Native American tribes they used to purposefully put mistakes into their artwork, weavings, and other projects; to make something perfect was an insult to the gods. However, in today’s society, perfection is necessary. Men and women are pressured to conform, but in more and more books and movies the ways you can comform are starting to expand. Women in particular are held to high standards and are pressured more by media. “Be thin, but curvy too.” “Show some skin prude, but don’t look like a whore.” But it’s not just the way we look that we are being pressured into; it’s our mannerisms as well.

Senior Carissa Denehy notes that she, “would feel more comfortable talking to other people, like the popular kids because [she] genuinely [feels] like [they] would get along.” They way we act, or don’t act, is often determined by who we are around because of the status they are given. But because of what she feels are her flaws, she has made the decision to hide rather than people notice her “flaws”.

Our flaws make us unique. Absent-mindedness. Being a bigmouth. Callous. Dependent on others. Erratic. Flawed. They are what make us loved, because perfect is boring.

Dr. Seuss was right: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.