Joan Didion's Messy Life

"I want to tell you just to live in the mess."--Joan Didion

On November 16th, Joan Didion's personal objects go up for auction, including her sunglasses (above) from the 2015 Celine campaign. Fact: Joan Didion's sunglasses are filthy. Look at the dust, dirt and scratches. I'm sure crusty remnants of moisturizer are embedded in the frames too. Yes! Let's hear it for imperfection. We women often apologize profusely for everyday mortal disarray: smeared lipstick, lint on our lapel, a misspelling in an email. We shouldn't. The struggle to be and look perfect holds us back from achieving our goals and being our joyful, silly selves. "Perfectionism is debilitating. It's awful, despite its benign-sounding name," says Natalie Dattilo, the director of psychology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in this Salon article. I once left a pair of Tom Ford sunglasses at my friend's house and she said, "I would wear them, but they are disgustingly dirty." I replied, "Like, you're so damn polished" and we laughed hysterically. Women should unite in giving perfectionism the middle finger. Men--with their wrinkled khakis and overgrown eyebrows--don't contend with these ridiculous standards. Didion is so right. Live in the mess. Laugh at the mess too.

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