Wabi-Sabi: Inspiration for my perfectly imperfect life
IN my freshman year of college, I came across the Japanese term Kaizen. Kaizen means “change for the better or continuous improvement.” A Japanese business philosophy adopted by famous multinational companies like Toyota, Kaizen is the desire to continuously improve operations and productivity.
I fell in love with the term because it allowed me to see every failure as an opportunity to improve, making me more focused on how I can improve instead of berating myself on what I did wrong. This is where my love affair with Japanese philosophy began. Through the years, I spent time studying ancient philosophy, symbolisms, and cultural nuances to gain an understanding of their rich history, culture, and wisdom. A new one that I recently learned about is Wabi-Sabi.
Omar Itani beautifully describes Wabi-Sabi as “the elegant philosophy that denotes a more connected way of living – a lifestyle, where we are deeply connected to nature, and thus better connected to our truest inner selves. It is a concept that motions us to constantly search for beauty in imperfection and accept the more natural cycle of life. It reminds us that all things, including us and life itself, are impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect. Perfection, then, is impossible and impermanence is the only way.”
Beth Kempton, author of the book Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese Wisdom for a Perfect Imperfect Life, was quoted for saying that defining Wabi Sabi is next to impossible because there was no set meaning for it. In fact, Beth later on discovered that every person she interviewed had a different interpretation of Wabi-Sabi. Overall wabi and sabi are two separate concepts.
Omar Itani continued, “Wabi is about recognizing beauty in humble simplicity. It invites us to open our hearts and detach from the vanity of materialism so we can experience spiritual richness instead.Sabi is concerned with the passage of time, the way all things grow, age, and decay, and how it manifests itself beautifully in objects. It suggests that beauty is hidden beneath the surface of what we actually see, even in what we initially perceive as broken. Together, these two concepts create an overarching philosophy for approaching life: Accept what is, stay in the present moment, and appreciate the simple, transient stages of life.”
I fell in love with the concept of Wabi-Sabi because it has given me the space to just be. To simply be accepting of what is (which ties with another Japanese teaching Uketamo or the humble acceptance of what is) and to love life for what it is, despite its broken parts. This then reminds me of another teaching that I hold dear, Kintsugi which is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold which has long been a metaphor for embracing one’s flaws and imperfections.
The coming together of the two philosophies makes my heart dance with joy. As a type A personality, I have the tendency to simply go at 100 mph without realizing that true joy lies not in what’s next but in what is. The teaching also reminds me to embrace where I am with contentment and that includes accepting my emotions as they are. Our culture has a strong desire to be happy all the time and while there is good intention behind that desire, it stops us from being content with any other emotion and/ or situation that is causing the distress. Unhappiness is rooted in discontentment, discontentment over our current situations, emotions, and anything else that is uncomfortable. Wabi-sabi teaches us to just be and to find beauty even in the smallest pockets of the day because for sure something beautiful can be found.
As Beth Kempton described, “Put simply, wabi sabi gives you permission to be yourself. It encourages you to do your best but not make yourself ill in pursuit of an unattainable goal of perfection. It gently motions you to relax, slow down and enjoy your life. And it shows you that beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places, making every day a doorway to delight.”
This holiday season, may you find contentment in whatever you face, whether in lack or in plenty, may you find joy in what is and hope in what will be.