Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that can be described as "the beauty in imperfection" or "simple elegance."  Wabi means something like "rustic" or "imperfect", while Sabi’s translation is "beauty that comes with age."  Like many colloquial terms, good books and poetry, the idea of Wabi Sabi is not easily translated from one language to another.   It’s a quiet, understated beauty, reflecting its own unique essence and authenticity, one that endures time and is natural.  It’s a beauty with quirks, and individuality.

Wabi Sabi is handmade.  Its flea markets, farmer’s markets and antique stores.  It’s the green patina on aged copper, an elegant china tea cup with a chip, rustic French bread, steps worn from years of use, the lines on our faces, the snaggle in our tooth, the light in our eyes.  Wabi Sabi things tend to have some trait that distinguishes them.  They look, feel and even taste differently.  It could be the slight asymmetry of blown glass or the hammer marks in forged metal.  It could be the sweet tart taste of a wild apple or the thick texture of handmade paper.  It’s believed that these qualities only add luster and depth to the object.  The chips, cracks, and worn edges are part of the story and what make it lovable.  It accepts impermanence as part of life, change as inevitable, and beauty being intrinsic.

Our culture has forgotten perhaps what natural things look like.  Much of what we see, eat and buy has become homogenized, massed produced and stamped out.  We’ve come to expect things to be symmetrical, smooth, refined, perfect and packaged.  While those are fine qualities, Wabi Sabi offers a different perspective.  

It allows things to be as they are.  It finds beauty and meaning in the imperfection of things, in the gray areas of life.  It understands that these changes, imperfections, and quirks add authenticity and richness to life.  It values and finds a place on the shelf and in the cupboard for those things that differ.  It understands that it is through nature and nurture through experience and lack through what it has endured and hasn't that one's natural beauty becomes clear.