Continuing our spot light on J-Wellness. This month we will explore "wabi-sabi". Dating back to 563 BC and based in Zen Buddhism, the Japanese phrase "wabi-sabi" can be understood in it simplest form, in English, as “finding simplistic beauty in the imperfect.” It can be useful for helping us find peace in today’s busy world. Continually pursuing the perfect job, body, family, home, and other material possessions can lead to stress and anxiety, mainly because there is no such thing as perfection.
There is an underlying tone of melancholy in the phrase wabi-sabi, as it recognizes the impermanence of life, art, and beauty. This impermanence is what makes life and art so beautiful and, at the same time, so wonderfully imperfect.
How to Incorporate Wabi-Sabi into Your Life
The concept of wabi-sabi is embedded into Japanese culture. You can see it everywhere, from beautiful repaired pottery in tea houses[1] to the weathered wood that houses Japan’s ancient temples. It’s on the moss that grows outside of gardens and the weathered lines on the faces of Japanese centenarians, whose wisdom spans 100 years or more thanks in part to their wabi-sabi mindset.
Incorporating wabi-sabi into your life can feel like a challenge at first. People from Western countries are used to the idea of striving for perfection. Accepting something as imperfect can feel like failing.
Children seem to grasp wabi-sabi intuitively. They marvel at a stone worn smooth by the waves of the ocean, and they carry feathers and rocks in their pockets. They relish in the simple beauty of the world. Somewhere along the way, we lose that appreciation for beautiful, temporary things.
Here are a few ways to find that appreciation again. Use these ideas to start incorporating wabi-sabi into your life.
1. Create a wabi-sabi journal
Write down or take pictures of beautifully imperfect things you see every day. It could be your child’s handprints on the wall, laugh lines on your face, or a tree in the forest covered in moss. Take the time to notice at least one thing every day.
2. Savor the moment
At least once a day, stop rushing from one task to the next and truly savor the moment. Drink a hot cup of coffee in silence while watching the sunrise, or simply stand in your backyard and listen to the birds.
3. Focus on learning from mistakes
The next time something doesn’t go your way, see what you can learn from the situation. What lessons can you take away from this experience that will help you in the future? Learning will help you build resilience and become a creator who can make beauty out of loss.
Start Embracing Imperfection
Wabi-sabi can also mean letting go when things don’t go as planned. Having a wabi-sabi mindset can help you stay calm when life throws you curveballs. Knowing that imperfection is a part of the game, you can embrace this part of the journey rather than let it defeat you. All it takes is a mind-shift from seeing imperfections as failure to appreciating the beauty that lies in the imperfect-ness of life.
Life has a funny way of not caring about our careful planning. The next time something doesn’t go the way you expected it to, take a deep breath and embrace the concept of wabi-sabi.
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Catch up on previous posts in the Well Living Series