"With the Wabi-Sabi way of life, both life and art are beautiful not because they are perfect and eternal, but because they are imperfect and fleeting."
Wabi-Sabi is an ancient Japanese idea that is somewhat difficult to translate into English. It comes from the word wabi which means "simple elegance" and sabi which means "seeing beauty in the imperfect and the impermanent." Together, Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese view of life that embraces simplicity and sees beauty in old, flawed and impermanent things.
One of my favorite quotes about Wabi-Sabi sums up this way of life perfectly: "It [Wabi-Sabi] reminds us that we are all but transient beings on this planet-that our bodies as well as the material world around us are in the process of returning to the dust from which we came. Through Wabi-Sabi, we learn to embrace liver spots, rust, and frayed edges, and the march of time they represent."
A perfect rosebud is marvelous partly because its beauty, and its scent, last but a moment. A deep breath of fresh, earthly air after a rain storm smells divine because storms like that don't come around often. Clouds on the horizon dance and shift in a magnificent display to catch the sunlight before the sky goes black once more. This is Wabi-Sabi.
We kiss and smell the tiny hands of our children and press them into plaster molds because we know how soon those hands will be full-grown. And there-in lies the beauty. That one tender, precious moment with a child sleeping on your chest, his tiny hand grasped around your index finger. This moment will never happen again and is therefore transcendentally beautiful. This is Wabi-Sabi.
When you consider the Wabi-Sabi view point, you are invited to reimagine what is beautiful. You are allowed to let go of the idea that beauty has to look or walk or talk in a certain way. And once I gained the freedom to see beauty anywhere, I literally see beauty EVERYWHERE. When clouds gather on the horizon. Wabi-Sabi. When my son marches triumphantly out of his first day of 5th grade. Wabi-Sabi. When the blackberries are perfectly ripe. Wabi-Sabi.
And when those sublime, fleeting moments come I inhale them and greedily hold them in my memory until I am sure they are stored somewhere good. Ahhhhh . . . the sunset, the flower bud, the fluttering heart, the baby's hand. They don't last and oh, how they must be savored.
Below are just a few different photos I have taken in the last few months that represent Wabi-Sabi to me. I am constantly on the lookout for these moments now and try to document them if I can.
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