This topic of self-acceptance has been dominant in my conversations with T. And the word 'humanness' has come up often. It has been hard for me to accept what I call 'the bad' in me. I guess striving for perfection (in character, not in say, being a perfect housewife or a perfect mathematician or a perfect bookkeeper) will always result in disappointment. I still don't know how to balance the laudable effort to be a good person with the inevitable failings that accompany that effort.