what can we learn from wabi-sabi
previously I mentioned about wabi-sabi
characteristic and also found out
that wabi-sabi is way more than just an
aesthetic style instead it has a deep
philosophical feel based on American artist
writer Leonard Cohen he states the
metaphysical basis of wabi-sabi is that
things are either devolving towards or
evolving from nothingness he gave a good
example where travellers searching for
shelter as dust approached in the
hinterlands we saw tall rushes
everywhere so he bundle an armful of them
with a knot and the moment the tall
rushes evolved into a grass hut a place
where he can shelter in the next morning
before the traveler embarked on his
journey he unknotted the bundle the
grass hat disappears and deconstruct
back as a large field of rushes again the
original state of nature seems to be
restored but minute traces of the shelter
remains A slight twist in a reed here
and there the memory of the hut is still in the mind of the traveler and in fact
in your mind as you are watching this video
while the universe destructs it also
constructs new thing emerged of
nothingness there's a lot lesson
wabi-sabi can teach us in life but I
just can't list down every single of
them because that will be a one-hour
documentary so our list down some of my
favorites first the truth comes from the
observation of the nature like most
books and website they will describe
wabi-sabi as the beauty of impermanent
imperfect and incomplete these are the
three most obvious lesson gathered from
years of connecting with the nature and
is deeply influenced by the teaching of
Taoism all things are impermanent
everything will come to an end object
wears down planets and stars die and
even intangible things like reputation
history data all of them will eventually
fade into oblivion and cease to exist
all things are imperfect nothing that exists
is without imperfection everything has
its own flaws even a sharpest razor
blade when you magnify it you still
can see microchips micro flaws on them all
things are incomplete we often give our
own definition of completion by in fact
there's no right definition on that is
the plant complete many flowers when it
goes to seed when a seed sprout or when
everything turned into compost the
notion of completion has no basis in
wabi-sabi beauty can be coax of ugliness
I truly believe that wabi-sabi is not to
everyone's liking the beauty of
wabi-sabi in one respect is the
condition of coming to terms with what
you will consider ugly beauty can
spontaneously occur and any moment given
the right circumstances and proper point
of view to me beauty and ugliness can be
really subjective and in fact ugliness
can remain ugly it's up to oneself to
appreciated it knowing that wabi-sabi is
appreciation of transience in life it
stirs a bittersweet comfort because we
all know that our existence shares the
same fate a perfectionist striving for
a perfect life is gonna be a struggle
and trying to hold on to your past
present future is pointless so why not accept
the inevitable it also means open
our heart to opportunity and also a gift
in a simpler life wabi-sabi is not found
in what people consider as the perfect
moment when the flower is blooming where
you wish a goal instead it is found in a
moment of Inception or subsiding
sometimes it's about stuff that is
hidden tentative and ephemeral and most
of them are subtle and almost invisible
to our vulgar eyes like most of us I get
overly blinded by the final result the
final goal the completion and I tend to
forget to appreciate and enjoy the
process of getting there this give me a
good reason to slow down be patient and
appreciate the process instead of always
getting unsatisfied with my progress so
sometimes I think it's good to actually
pull yourself back from constant pursuit
of more so we can observe what is
already in our field of vision
I think it's essential for us to reflect
every now and then about the fact that
life is ephemeral it's never forever we
need to surround ourselves with people
with love and cherish knowing what we
know and now how should we act how can
we surround ourselves with people we
love and cherish I think it's really by
getting rid of unnecessary things
wabi sabi means treading lightly on
the planet it means knowing how to
appreciate whatever you stumble upon it
also means that being materially poor
and spiritually rich in other words
wabi-sabi tell us to stop our
preoccupation with success wealth status
power and luxury why not enjoy an
unencumbered life honestly I'm still
learning and trying to live my life
without being materialistic and make my
life more meaningful only with the
essentials
however this wabi-sabi point of view can
be a little bit confusing I mean a lot
of people might think that it meant
having a goal or having an ambition is
bad or telling you to give up being
driven I was confused as well initially
because I disagree that we shouldn't
have a goal we shouldn't have desire for
success because I feel that we still
need goals for us to improve and make a
difference in the world but after
reading the wabi-sabi book from beth
kempton then I started realized that maybe
wabi-sabi meant getting really clear
about what you want and why you want
outside of all those materialistic
desire and to see life in a bigger
picture don't give yourself redundant
stress or redundant expectation from
others and I realized that I can be
perfectly imperfect just as I am and
with this realization I feel that I
don't even need all this materialistic
desire I don't need to own something
just to boost my self-image wabi-sabi is
the balance between the pleasure you get
from things and also the pleasure you
get from freedom from things and in this
sense I feel that wabi-sabi can be very
similar to minimalism
no in terms of the aesthetic style but
in terms of the philosophical
the metaphysical basis of these two
concept I mean both of them are strongly
influenced by Zen Buddhism so no
surprise for that so everyone might
claim that they know the feeling of
wabi-sabi but only a few can articulate
the feeling well that's the reason why I
have issue explaining the concept of
wabi-sabi and I have always been
thinking why the concept of wabi-sabi is
not spread across or spoken about
because of this concept aesthetic
obscurantism a lot of Japanese critics
feels that wabi-sabi should maintain its
elusive and mysterious qualities because
ineffabilities is a part of its
specialness being incomplete and
imperfect but I do believe in what Leonard
Koren mentioned in his book if the
ability to create the aesthetic is to
preserve some guideposts need to be
place for the future generation so now
what's wabi-sabi to me wabi sabi
is a feeling it's not just a word
that describe aesthetic style or visual
aspect of a thing rather is something
more deep it can be a philosophical
viewpoint or it can be a feeling where
you encounter a kind of beauty it
doesn't mean that we cannot use the
concept of wabi-sabi as the inspiration
of a fashion design or our home decor if you
want to appreciate the rustic simplicity
but if we pigeon-hole wabi-sabi simply
as a design trend we are missing out on
all the real opportunity that it offers and to
live a meaningful life if I'm a designer
I'll probably head towards this wabi-sabi
design direction but sadly I'm not but I
feel that I still can imply this concept
in my lifestyle it makes me realize how
I should live my life and how I see
stuff around me and really appreciate
what I have in life am i interpreting
wabi-sabi right or wrong I guess no one
knows because everyone has their own
perception of wabi-sabi and that's the
thing that makes wabi-sabi so beautiful
because there's no clear answer on what
it is the impermanence of the concept
makes it incomplete so I guess it's
perfect to be imperfect
so that's all I have on this wabi-sabi
video and if you'd like to support this
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understand that really appreciate the
attention you gave by watching this
video thank you for your support and
I'll see you guys on the next one
