Wabi-sabi Isn’t That Green Stuff On Your Sushi!

How Wabi-Sabi are you, reader?
Ok so firstly what the dickens do I mean by Wabi Sabi?
Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that I encountered a while ago but that over the last couple of weeks has crept into my thinking space.
Wabi stems from the root wa, which refers to harmony, peace, tranquillity, and balance. Wabi was originally associated with sadness and loneliness however today it means living a simple and modest lifestyle; one which is peaceful, humble and in tune with nature. Someone who is perfectly themselves and doesn’t crave to be anything else would be described as wabi.Sabi by itself means "the bloom of time." Sabi originally meant ‘to be desolate’. Although today undertones of abandonment cling to the word it is associated with the more neutral ‘growing old’. The natural progression of time, it's the understanding that beauty is fleeting, transitory, and the ability to enjoy objects which are aged, fading or weathered. It is also, of course, much more and far deeper than that, but this definition is a start

To live a wabi sabi life means being true to ourselves and happy with whomever we are. Trusting our intuition, making time for and enjoying what is most important to us in life. It is valuing natural simplicity rather than manufactured, contrived perfection or being weighed down by the huge pressure of material concerns. Being Wabi Sabi is about slowing down, being patient and serene and loving people and things the way they are. As we go though life we get older, as a believer in an omnipotent creator then I have to also accept that this is not a design flaw. (Nb. When I initially started typing that sentence I wrote grow through life rather than go…somehow my typo seems more apt.)
In contrast to the Greek ideals of perfect order and harmony which permeate our Western culture, living wabi-sabi is about seeing beauty in imperfection and accepting life’s transience; 'nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect'. This is something I struggle with a lot and for the last couple of days I’ve been meditating on the theme of:
‘By the standards of the world I’m imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete and that’s ok’
It is remarkably freeing, although saying it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ve fully accepted it in my heart of hearts.
The philosopher Plato, in his theory of forms, wrote ‘Only the idea of something is perfect’. If we accept that nothing is perfect then imperfections and making mistakes become part of the fun of being creative and allowing change to flow into our lives which in turn allows the space, time and freedom to live in the moment and enjoy and engage with being creative.

Well this entry seems to have turned into a mini lecture, oops. I feel like I should be asking ‘any questions?’ but I don’t feel at all qualified to answer them if I did. That’s another thing I’ve noticed about wabi sabi People seem to shy away from explaining it, I don’t blame them I’ve read countless books and websites that claim to offer an insight and I wouldn’t profess to completely understanding it either, and some of those explanations that do exist are a bit esoteric for my little brain. I guess the conclusion I’ve come to is that while I’m not going to become entirely ‘wabi-sabi’ there are elements of the view I’d like to adapt, adopt or try to adhere to a bit more in my day to day adventures.