As time goes by, I find myself coming to appreciate the beauty of imperfection- a concept the Japanese call "wabi sabi." The aesthetic of
wabi sabi encompasses so much more than this; I can't explain it in words, but I think that maybe I'm learning to see it.
Words exist because of meaning. Once you've got the meaning, you can forget the words. ~Chuang Tse
Wabi sabi acknowledges three things: "nothing is perfect, nothing lasts, and nothing is finished."
~Richard R. Powell
Wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between
you and something else. Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment
given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view. Beauty is
thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of
poetry and grace. ―
Leonard Koren,
Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers
wabi ... simple and quiet, austere refinement
Nothing to do with grandeur or symmetry. ~
Wabi Sabi:The Japanese Art of Impermanence by Andrew Juniper
The moon’s setting, a crow caws,
the sky is filled with frost
Maples by the river, fishermen’s lights, the traveler faces
a sad sleep
Outside the City of Suchow, from the Cold Mountain Temple
The sound of the midnight bell reaches the traveler’s boat ~Cheung Chi
Pared down to its barest essence, wabi-sabi is the
Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of
accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It's simple, slow, and
uncluttered-and it reveres authenticity above all. ~Noble Harbor.com
wabi is ...tranquil simplicity;
austere elegance;
unpolished, imperfect, or irregular beauty...
...rusticity;
things in their simplest, most austere, and natural state;
a serene, transcendental state of mind...
sabi is... the beauty that treasures the passage of time, and with it the lonely sense of impermanence it evokes;
the patina that age bestows...
which is true to the natural cycle of birth and death...
~from
Wabi Sabi: The Art of Everyday Life by Diane Durston
"Wabi sabi" was a phrase conceptualized by the Japanese poet
Basho, who was also known for writing haiku.
if I took it in hand,
it would melt in my hot tears—
heavy autumn frost
Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~Lao Tse
Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world. ~ Hans Margolius
On a completely different topic, I was excited and honored to be asked by artist/blogger Nanci Hersh to do a
guest post as part of her "The Artist as Collector" series. Please check it out and see which piece from my own collection I chose to feature. Nanci's blog,
On and Off the Walls, is well worth reading any time, as she is an accomplished writer and artist with lots of inspiring ideas.Thanks, Nanci!
