Wabi Sabi

[00:00:02] Hello Sunshine and how has your week been?

[00:00:07] Wabi Sabi, a Japanese philosophy

[00:00:10] and at its very core it celebrates the inherent beauty in imperfection.

[00:00:18] Unlike our regular conventional ideas of beauty,

[00:00:23] Wabi Sabi recognizes that perfection is just an illusion

[00:00:29] and it celebrates the uniqueness and the authenticity that imperfections bring forth.

[00:00:36] Now whether it's a cracked ceramic tea bowl that has been mended with gold

[00:00:41] or the charm of an aging structure,

[00:00:46] Wabi Sabi encourages us to embrace everything

[00:00:51] because the passage of time and the marks or the scars left behind

[00:00:56] sometimes make those objects more beautiful.

[00:01:01] Wabi Sabi reminds us that nothing in life is permanent.

[00:01:07] It teaches us to find joy and beauty even in the most temporary things

[00:01:13] and that's why this philosophy will always have us cherishing the present moment.

[00:01:20] Recognizing that everything is in a constant state of change

[00:01:25] and embracing impermanence is where we can actually find peace and contentment.

[00:01:32] You know in today's world where perfection is pursued at any cost.

[00:01:38] Now you have this constant desire that we have for flawless appearances, flawless skin, flawless homes, flawless bodies, flawless lives.

[00:01:48] It's leading to a lot of dissatisfaction and sometimes a relentless pursuit of standards which are not attainable or are difficult to attain.

[00:02:02] It is about the beauty of real as opposed to imaginary ideals.

[00:02:07] Wabi Sabi can relate not only to things but also to people.

[00:02:11] Our scars, our bruises, our cracks, our wrinkles, dents, our grey hair,

[00:02:19] our evidence of a life well lived, of the story of our lives, of our existence.

[00:02:25] And therefore this philosophy is the complete opposite of what people would expect to live to be perfect, to be perfect and appropriate.

[00:02:35] It allows us to live with our mistakes.

[00:02:38] It allows us to be comfortable with the flaws.

[00:02:43] It allows us to be comfortable with an imperfect appearance.

[00:02:49] Celebrating the mundane details and rejecting what society would think of as good taste,

[00:02:57] sometimes deliberately preferring the wrong solutions is what Wabi Sabi is all about.

[00:03:04] Wabi Sabi has its roots in the Chinese Zen Buddhism.

[00:03:09] The story of Wabi Sabi can be traced back to a 16th century Japanese legend about Sen No Rikyu and his team master, Takina Juh.

[00:03:20] The team master instructed his student to make the garden perfect by pruning, raking, pulling weeds and cutting grass.

[00:03:29] The student worked really hard and created a pristine garden.

[00:03:35] Now when he shows this to his master, the master shakes a cherry tree causing flower petals to fall on the lawn.

[00:03:42] The master then tells the student that the garden is now perfect.

[00:03:47] And the meaning of the story illustrates that Wabi Sabi is about appreciating the imperfections.

[00:03:55] Appreciating who we really are for exactly who we are.

[00:04:00] The master was actually trying to teach the student to appreciate the inevitable imperfections of things rather than trying to maintain a perfect lawn.

[00:04:11] Wabi Sabi is all about imperfect, impermanent, incomplete and yet there's so much of optimism in it isn't it?

[00:04:22] It claims that nothingness full of possibilities.

[00:04:25] It allows us to embrace ourselves just the way we are.

[00:04:31] Appreciating everything with its perfections and its imperfections.

[00:04:36] Here's to each one of you having a great week ahead of you.

[00:04:39] Take good care of yourselves. Bye for now.