finding contentment in imperfection.

on friday, in petaluma, california,
at the 23rd annual sonoma-marin fair's
world's ugliest dog contest,
the $1,000 top prize went to
a 14yo female chinese-crested chihuahua mix
owned by terry schumacher of hanford, ca.

her name is yoda.
& ugly she is, yes.

but she reminded me of a phrase
i came across earlier this week
& just jotted down on a post-it:

finding contentment in imperfection.

yoda probably doesn't know she's ugly,
or if she does, then not how ugly,
& regardless, to her, it's just not important.

what matters to her is that
she has food,
she has a home,
she has a family,
& she has love.

& however flawed her body & face may be,
they have gotten her to the ripe old doggie age of
14 years = almost 100 in human years,

& have let her keep on
gobbling up bowlfuls of satisfying meatiness,
napping in her favorite sunshine-warmed spots,
snuffling in the aromas of life all around her,
& snuggling up cozily with her loved ones.

she is practically the picture of imperfection.
yet she is a dog, so contentment is hers.

go, yoda.
show the world how
contentment in imperfection is found,
yes.


image source: justin sullivan/getty images.