Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life

One Japanese lifestyle brand I have admired for years is ‘fog linen work’,

Matsuzaki-sensei said that the key to aesthetic genius is leaving something unfinished to draw the viewer in.

sabi communicates a deep and tranquil beauty that emerges with the passage of time.

All things, including life itself, are impermanent, incomplete and imperfect. Therefore, perfection is impossible, and imperfection is the natural state of everything, including ourselves.

Japanese beauty is discovered in the experiencing, not just the seeing.

The spirit of wabi is deeply connected to the idea of accepting that our true needs are quite simple, and of being humble and grateful for the beauty that already exists right where we are.

Every time we do this, we miss unknowable opportunities for connection, serendipity and everyday adventure in our own lives, for the mind has gone somewhere the body cannot follow.

Less stuff, more soul. Less hustle, more ease. Less chaos, more calm. Less mass consumption, more unique creation. Less complexity, more clarity. Less judgement, more forgiveness. Less bravado, more truth. Less resistance, more resilience. Less control, more surrender. Less head, more heart.

It allows us to realise that whatever our situation, there is beauty hiding somewhere.