Every bit of the (human) world that we humans built exists because of imperfections that we wanted to correct. If everything was perfect, where would the motivation to create arise? If everything is perfect, nothing would need improving, hence nothing gets created.

Imperfections emerge from impermanence and interdependence. 

If everything was permanent and lasts forever, and permanently perfect, we wouldn’t need to create anything new. Hence, the fact that things break down, fade away or die, is very reason that things will get better. And by extension, the world gets better. It’s also the very reason we can hope. Because things will invariably change. Maybe it will change for the worse, maybe it will turn better as we hoped, but at least we got a chance at change. Permanence means there’s no hope.

Everything that was ever made depended on other things to get made. Things arises when conditions for it to emerge are sufficient. Need a cup of tea? You need the rain for water, sun and soil to grow tea, clay to make the cup, heat to boil the water. And because everything depended on everything else, invariably things will fail from the imperfection and failure of one of the conditions. No rain during a drought and the tea doesn’t grow. 

Together, impermanence and interdependence work to ensure imperfection exists in the world. Imperfection is what drives us to keep creating, building and maintaining our world. Perfection is but an ideal but seldom (if ever) achieved. 

Our world was built on imperfections. And the world gets better due to imperfections, not in spite of it. We think we’re trying to annihilate imperfection to get to a perfect world, but in fact, all we’re really doing is dancing with imperfection.