We expend massive amounts of energy in pursuit of perfection. If only we could never make mistakes or encounter unpleasant obstacles, oh, wouldn't life be just perfect? Maybe, but it would also be static, unfulfilling, and really, really boring.

Humorist Lisa Sugarman knows that life is a work in progress. She knows what we all suspect-life is at its best when it's fluid, unpredictable, and gloriously imperfect. And if this means life sometimes turns ugly and unpleasant, it only makes the good times that much sweeter.

Author of opinion column It Is What It Is, Lisa...