Crab Apple:
Cleanliness and Godliness

Many of us grew up thinking that our mothers were obsessed with cleanliness - just because they didn't care for the sight of a week's or month's worth of dirty clothing piled in a corner and felt that it was important to wash dishes before the neighbors notified the Board of Health.

The Crab Apple condition is far more acute. It is characterized by the need to have the outer world, the body, and the inner self be without flaw. Anything short of these standards may upset one to the point of self-disgust. A Crab Apple person may go through his newly-decorated house and notice the one tiny spot the painters missed or become traumatized because a letter signed with his name went out with a small typographic error.

Adolescents often present prime examples of Crab Apple concerns. Skin problems and the imperfections of their bodies devastate them. They are also often convinced that they are worthless people; if anyone knew what they were really like inside they would be ostracized forever.

Part of the difficulty with this syndrome is that those who suffer it are often unusually sensitive on a sensory level. Dirt, bacteria, and visual disorder cause them actual pain. The source of the Crab Apple condition, however, is deeper.

The Forest and the Trees

Those who suffer from this condition are like music students who plod through masterpieces, so intent on getting the notes right that pay no attention to the spirit and power of the music. They are too busy noticing the missing branches on the trees to experience the forest.

It's as if they're afraid to take in the larger picture, that if they were to open themselves to the vastness and wonder of the physical world and to their own inner capacities they would be overwhelmed with sensations and feelings. Their world would be out of control, and their relentless quest for perfection is an attempt to control their world and themselves and reduce both manageable proportions.

The Crab Apple Essence helps people to recognize that their desire for perfection is an attempt to escape their very human natures. It broadens their vision so that they can safely experience this larger world and recognize how the imperfections which loom so large in a reduced perspective fade away to nothing once they can experience and accept all that is part of the physical world.

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