It was an autumn day, and the ginkgo trees scattered their golden leaves across the paths. With each step, I felt a quiet bond between the life growing inside me and the vibrant life that surrounded me.

As I strolled beneath the branches, I began collecting the fallen leaves—choosing only the ones that were flawless. The smooth, unblemished, perfectly symmetrical ones. They became symbols in my hands, delicate representations of the child I was nurturing. I wanted only the best for my baby, a perfect life in an unblemished world. But as the collection grew, an unease settled over me.

Why was I drawn to only the most perfect leaves?

I paused, gazing at the small pile of leaves in my hand. Each one was pristine, untouched by decay or imperfection… Something about this unconscious ritual stirred something deeper inside me, a realization I had been too distracted to face.

Perfection.

That moment became a reflection of something much larger than myself. This word—this ideal—was not just in my hands but in the air around me. I saw the same fixation with perfection mirrored everywhere—a world that constantly demands us to conform, to be flawless.

I felt a deep sense of guilt, not just for myself, but for the world that we’re creating—one where imperfection is not allowed, where difference is erased.

Can we truly live freely and love fully, if we only accept perfection?

I looked at the leaves in my hand and understood the absurdity of it all. Love, in its truest form, doesn’t demand perfection.

So, I stopped. I began picking up the ones I had overlooked—the big, the small, the chipped, the blemished. I gathered them gently, holding each one as if it were a secret the world had missed. 

As I cradled those leaves, a sense of peace washed over me, and I kept those leaves as a reminder— not just of that golden autumn day, or the life growing within me—but of a deeper truth. 

Love is not a pursuit of perfection. It’s the acceptance of imperfection. And in that acceptance, we might just find a way to heal this fractured world. A world that has forgotten that the cracks are where the light shines through. It’s about reshaping the world with compassion, one golden leaf at a time.

İlayda