Vabi-sabi is an ancient aesthetic philosophy rooted in Zen Buddhism.
It is a Japanese concept that focuses on accepting things as they are,
Knowing that imperfect things are perfect in their own way.
Vabi means things that are fresh,
Simple and incorporate rustic beauty.
Sabi means age-old things that are still appealing to your eyes or spark joy.
It means appreciating something that might not appear perfect yet it is natural,
Perfect and balanced.
The story of Vabi-sabi can be traced back to the 16th century in Japan.
One day Sen no Rikyu,
The master of a traditional tea ceremony was preparing to receive guests.
Before his guests arrive,
Rikyu asks his son to attend to the garden and his son immediately sets about making it look beautiful.
He prunes the trees,
He rakes the paths,
He carefully clears away the leaf litter.
Once he is done,
His father comes to inspect.
Seeing that the garden is now immaculate,
Rikyu is displeased.
He walks up to a neatly manicured tree and shakes a branch causing a few leaves to fall gently across one of the freshly raked paths.
For Rikyu,
A flawless garden was unacceptable.
Now it was just right with the smattering of leaves.
In this often quoted story of Rikyu,
A perfect garden is missing something.
It needs to be messed up just a little bit like a good haircut.
It must be tweaked and must.
The lesson of this story lends us the confidence to respect what is damaged and scarred,
Vulnerable and imperfect,
Starting with ourselves and those around us.
It is all about embracing simplicity and imperfection around us,
Accepting and embracing the phases and situations in our life as they are.
Vabi-sabi permits us to be ourselves.
I will leave you with a quote by Leonard Wynn,
There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.
Love,
Light,
Peace and power to you.
Thank you.
