Author Donald L. Hicks - Every snowflake is unique, yet they are each perfect

Welcome to the Daily Quote – a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm Andrew McGivern for December 27th.
Today is Make Cut-Out Snowflakes Day – celebrating the simple art of folding paper and cutting patterns to create winter beauty.It's an activity that requires nothing expensive or complicated. Just paper, scissors, and imagination. Fold the paper. Make some cuts. Unfold it to discover what you've created. Each snowflake emerges as a surprise, revealing patterns you couldn't quite predict.The beauty is in the unpredictability. No two snowflakes ever turn out the same, even when you're trying to replicate one. That's not a flaw. That's the magic.Author Donald L. Hicks captured this truth beautifully when he wrote:"Every snowflake is unique, yet they are each perfect."Hicks's observation applies to paper snowflakes and real ones. In nature, no two snowflakes share identical patterns. Scientists have examined millions – each one different.When you cut paper snowflakes, the same thing happens. Your cuts won't match mine. Can't. Won't. Shouldn't. Every fold is slightly different. Every angle of the scissors creates something new. Every snowflake that unfolds reveals its own pattern.Here's what matters: they're all perfect. The elaborate six-pointed one with intricate designs? Perfect. The simple one with just a few cuts? Perfect. The lopsided one where you accidentally cut too much? Still perfect.They're perfect because they're unique. Not despite their differences, but because of them.This applies beyond paper crafts. We spend so much energy trying to match some template, some ideal, some version of what we think we should be. But Hicks reminds us: uniqueness is perfection. Your particular pattern, your specific cuts, your individual design – that's not a deviation from perfect. That is perfect.So today, make paper snowflakes. Find some paper, grab scissors, and create. Don't worry about making them beautiful or symmetrical or Instagram-worthy.Just fold. Cut. Unfold. See what emerges.Each one will be different. Each one will be unique. And according to Hicks's wisdom, each one will be perfect.Remember this when you're comparing yourself to others, when you're wishing you were different, when you're seeing your uniqueness as a flaw rather than a feature.You're a snowflake. Unique and perfect. Exactly as you are.That's going to do it for today. I'm Andrew McGivern signing off for now but I'll be back tomorrow. Same Pod time, same Pod Station - with another Daily Quote.