The Gentle Wisdom of Wabi-Sabi

A brief exploration of the ancient Japanese philosophy Wabi Sabi and how to live a better life through it.

Some of us can never outgrow the need for perfection, that incessant nagging feeling that life is not quite what it could be. We are always anticipating tomorrow because now is rarely good enough, and that state of mindless longing leaves us distraught and confused, never really able to look at our lives for what they truly are. Blessings and choices come and go, and as time passes slowly but surely, our comatose minds make-believe that youth can be eternally captured shamelessly and without ransom. We morph into perfection-loving, excessiveness-addicted, and screen-worshipers who are only capable of perceiving beauty in a singular form; only untouched and whole. We avoid suffering and try to dodge it with filters, medication, and meditation until our self-annihilating attitudes bring us to our knees.

This excruciating human state of despair is the antithesis of Wabi-Sabi. The ancient Japanese wisdom counters our modern life in almost every way. With Wabi-Sabi, you discover that to salvage the beautiful yet ordinary intricacies of a fleeting life, you must simply experience them fully. So bear with me as we explore this gentle wisdom of Wabi-Sabi life.

What if I told you to marvel not only at full moons and perfectly created things? What if we tried to reassess our relationship with time and age? Can we expose an underlying beauty beneath what has been culturally recognized as ugly? Wabi-Sabi pushes us to do so.

Wabi-Sabi is a tribute to the solitary, imperfect, and transient nature of things, it is a nod of recognition to empathy and humility towards ourselves and all that surrounds us. Appreciation for the incomplete, imperfect and impermanent is the core of Wabi-Sabi. It contends that there is an undeniable aesthetic and value to that which is generally perceived as ugly and consumed with age. This ancient Japanese manner of thought challenges our modern obsession with perfection, wholesomeness, and permanence.

Wabi-Sabi is popularly attributed to aesthetics like furniture and fashion. Kintsugi, the art of mending broken pottery by means of using golden lacquer is an ancient example of Wabi-Sabi portrayed in pottery design. This art form has been gaining traction because of its celebration of imperfection and specifically because it highlights the fault lines in what was previously broken; a clear tribute to the concept of Wabi-Sabi. However since Wabi-Sabi is a description of a state, it can be applied not only to design, but also to how you live and work.

What does living with Wabi-Sabi entail?

Mindfulness about all that you surround yourself with. Becoming less judgmental about imperfection and fault, and learning to acquiesce to the proceedings of time with honor and empathy, whether it is the effect of time on you, those you love or the nature surrounding you. The philosophy implores you to be easier on yourself and others, to slow down, and to ponder the essence of life in its bleakness and its joys.

So marvel at crescents and half-moons, mend broken things instead of tossing them out and rejoice in the marks that time and experiences leave on your skin. Embrace simplicity and explore the beauty within imperfection. Do not mourn what is transient but truly experience it at every stage, and pay attention to the ways in which it interacts with life. Wabi-Sabi really is about paying attention to the truth of things, unmasking ourselves and learning to live with compassion.