"In the process of making Jelly Belly beans some of the beans stick together, are too large or too small, making them not meet the standards of quality. These imperfect beans, rather than being scrapped, are repackaged as BELLY FLOPS!" from Jelly Belly Early in our move to Northern California we went with the Hatch family to visit the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. The highlight of the field trip was discovering "Belly Flops!" Julia and I bought them by the bag full! Belly Flops spoke to me and all my imperfections!
Perfect Jelly Beans are fine but Belly Flops are so much more endearing! They have more character! They're unique and original!
I think our culture makes us fearful of making mistakes, there is pressure for competence, excellence, and perfection without acknowledging the learning curve while we progress! The expectation that we can't mess up makes me nervous/unwilling to try new things!
Anna Quindlen has a great line on accepting ourselves and thriving. She said: "The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."
Belly Flops represent more than a odd, misshapen Jelly Bean! They can remind us that imperfections can be more interesting! Our imperfections can define us by humanizing us! Trying to appear perfect is far less interesting than acknowledging our shortfalls and doing our best in spite of (or maybe because of) frailties. The sooner we can accept the adage by Salvador Dali when he said "Have No Fear of Perfection - You'll Never Reach It"; the sooner we will discover the beauty in ourselves, others, and yes, even in Belly Flops!
