Several years ago I learned about wabi sabi from an improbable source, an animated American sitcom called King of the Hill. Looking back, it doesn’t really seem like the kind of place where I would find inspiration and meet a concept that has come to resonate so deeply within my soul.
But then, you just never know where or when something will click; do you?
Besides, that show made me laugh.
Anyway, that episode, “The Son Also Roses,”* defined wabi sabi as anything which has a flaw that renders it more beautiful. Just perfect, really.
After a little more research, the definition expanded somewhat in my mind. Wabi sabi, it turns out, is a Japanese term that is difficult to translate. It contains the following concepts in its four catchy syllables: naturalness, imperfection, impermanence, simplicity, lack of pretension, incompleteness, and the patina that comes with age.
Wabi sabi is about beauty. However, this is not a still-shot beauty, shiny and new and idealized, perfectly posed and styled, all imperfections airbrushed away, as we are used to seeing the definition applied in my country — even to such items as sports cars and fine kitchen cabinets and sleek, expensive, barbeque grills.
No, this is a beauty that incorporates the passage of time, that accepts imperfection and welcomes natural change, that doesn’t resist the facts of ugliness, death, sorrow in this world. If an object or a scene has achieved wabi sabi, that quality will be felt, not necessarily by every passerby, but by those who are aware and awake, paying attention so deeply that they can sense this quiet beauty emanating from each weathered surface. This imperfect perfection does not shout, or clamor. Drama would ruin the whole effect.
If your cup is wabi sabi, it won’t be shiny and new, but well-worn from years of habitual use and loving care. The design will be simple, the colors muted and natural. It will be clean, and beautiful even when empty… even more so when filled with clear water or dark tea, and even more so when the person who drinks from it has a heart full of serenity, peace, and gratitude for each moment.
Leonard Koren put it this way: “Pare down to the essence, but don’t lose the poetry.”
So… that was my week 24. I took a 10-day blog break, disconnected myself intentionally, and let the flat side drag in a lot of areas of my life. Things got so simple and easy — and beautiful. I let the Earth restore and refresh my spirit, and I rested, and I spent time with the ones I love. The experience ended up being a blessing.
The photo of the aging daisy was taken one morning late in the week, when I had gotten still enough to witness its quiet beauty. There were more traditionally perfect flowers around to photograph, some of them perennial favorites of mine, like echinacea and single-flowered roses. There were brand new, young flowers opening out all around me. But this was the one whose wabi sabi essence spoke clearly to me, of peace, of impermanence, of grace, of joy in the moment.
No drama. Just pure poetry.
Namasté, y’all.
*How could I not love that episode where Bobby Hill grows a wabi-sabi rose? The title was even a pun on my old hero Hemingway’s first novel.
p.s. Nancy J. Bond published a post about wabi sabi yesterday. My post was already in process at the time, and the coincidence of timing made me smile. She has another lovely image up at her blog, Leaping Greenly, to illustrate the concept, and links to resources about what wabi sabi is and is not, if you’re curious and would like to explore further.
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It’s the imperfections that always capture my interest. And when something is well-loved and well-used, it just speaks of how truly valued it is.
Lovely post, Meredith. I often have to look into who is writing these various shows – sometimes it’s so cleverly done. I think the writers don’t get near enough credit.
Talon´s last blog ..The Screaming Bridge Short Story
Thank you, Talon. The writers of that show were on fire sometimes, for sure.
Well-loved things seem to have absorbed some of that love into their very molecules, I sometimes think. (Your comment triggered a flash of memory about The Velveteen Rabbit.
)
I don’t sense old
I don’t sense new
I sense an essence
Of the two
What it is and
What it will be
How it all flows
Through me
Maybe wabi sabi
I didn’t understand
But there is peace
In this old man
For in the photo
That you showed
I see life that’s still
Grand and bold
desk49/Ellis Moore´s last blog ..Talons Woolly Bears
Ellis, you’ve reminded me of a discussion I had with my husband recently, about how a four-dimensional being could look at me and perceive me from birth to death, even as he interacted with me now, that time would somehow be included in his gaze. I can’t quite get it — but it sounded cool!
We live in three in our simple mind
The fourth dimension is what we call time
However, time is manmade therefore, this fourth is not clear
Still to a simpleton like me, this dimension I don’t fear
Time to me is like a point. How many points can you put in a bowl of water?
Mix the water until all points dissolve. Now you have a bowl of swirling time blinded together all touching each other. You just made
The fourth dimension
Beautiful, Ellis. Time blended together in a swirl of poetry.
Meredith, King of the Hill is one of my favourite ever shows. It’s such a shame that it was always overshadowed by the likes of Simpsons and Family Guy. Long live King of the Hill. In syndication anyway. Sigh.
I have never come across the term wabi sabi before, so thank you for educating me. When I initially read the title for today’s post, my mind immediately substituted wasabi before I realised what it was. Tsk tsk. Silly me!
King of the Hill is way better than Family Guy or the Simpsons. But I suppose it does boil down to taste. And speaking of taste, wasabi is awesome, too.
I try to think of the cancellation of any show as just an opportunity for those very clever writers and artists to explore new vistas and get even better at their chosen art forms. As a writer, myself, I realize that I will never, ever be able to actualize all of the ideas I have already, and so I’d hate to get locked in for too many years to a particular character or plot line. I’m betting you know what I mean, Tony.
Real cool post, Meredith. I had never head the term before. And really nice explanation of a semi-abstract concept. I’ve always felt that flawed things can be beautiful. People, flowers, everything.
Kyna´s last blog ..Pardon Me Sir- Is This YOUR Inferiority Complex
Thanks, Kyna. I’m glad to have been the one to introduce you.
You’re so right about the flawed things. That’s kinda how I feel about myself.
I am glad to know about this term wabi sabi, and do already embrace the well-used and slightly flawed in nature or in my home. I recently purchased a kitchen stool that had a flawed seat, it was the last one they had, they said, and no one wanted it because of that. I do, I said. Wabi sabi. I like that.
Lynn´s last blog ..Mountain cool- wisp and mockingbird
Lynn, wabi sabi does seem to fit what I know of you. I’m so glad you took home the seat no one wanted. It will be happier in your remodeled and warm, comfy, welcoming kitchen, I just know it.
aloha meredith,
i’ve always loved this word and glad you discovered it…i love imperfections, aged patina, history and objects that have a use and past…thats why i love garage sales, auctions and flea markets….i love gardens that show someones care, their creativity and the objects that make their space unique..
thanks for sharing your observations on this word, it fits your persona
noel´s last blog ..A Coastal Hike to the Golden Gate
It’s a great word, Noel. I can’t believe I didn’t have access to it for so many years! You’re right, that it feels like a good fit for me.
Is the concept well-known in Hawaii, then?
I long to create just the kind of garden you describe. The only way to do that will be to finally get over my wanderlust and put down some real roots. The patina of time can develop no other way…
wabi sabi is just such a fabulous concept – I adore things that aren’t perfect, I love decay and photograph it often, some of my work is the beauty in the rust of decay etc. Once again you have taught me what my heart already knew but I didn’t know the words – thank you.
I love King of the Hill!!!
namaste x
carrie´s last blog ..We be jammin
So happy I could introduce you, Carrie. Rust makes an amazing photographic subject, I think. (We should trade some rust pics sometime!) The words are not essentially important; are they? Just signposts, really.
King of the Hill made it to Ireland and was understood. I’m amazed.
I am very interested in King of the Hill.
Wabi Sabi is difficult to understand for me, I am japanese though.
It is the beauty of things modest, humble and quiet.
I’m sure there is in your photo.
Na, I appreciate your stopping by to visit and leave a comment. I admire your photography very much.
The more I read about wabi sabi, the more I got the feeling I would never quite be able to define it. The post is my best attempt, I guess. In me, it is a feeling more than a definition now. It is so humbling to hear you, as a native of the culture that produced the concept, say you haven’t gotten it yet. And yet so cheering, that you thought you witnessed wabi sabi in the photo. Thank you.
I like the distinction of “wabi, not slobby.”
And I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you, regarding The Simpsons, however.
Lisa´s last blog ..It is a truth universally acknowledged-
Good mnemonic way to remember one aspect of it, Lisa. Cleanliness is important.
To each her own. The Simpsons lost me some time ago (but then, I get bored easily).
I took in a stray cat several years ago after a friend found it roaming around her house. He was FIV positive and she was afraid to have it around her other cats. I named him Wabi Sabi, or Wabi for short.
Though he was likely fairly young chronologically, his living out on the street and his illness had aged him unnaturally fast. He wasn’t with me very long, but I gave him love and respect and the run of the house. For a variety of reasons, the name just seemed to fit.
Meredith, thanks for sharing your spin on Wabi sabi, and for letting me remember my departed pal.
villager´s last blog ..July Harvests- Eggplant and Tomatoes
Aw, Villager, I’m sorry to hear you lost your friend — although I think it is really important that you did give Wabi respect and love as long as he was with you. I’ve lived with an FIV kitty, kept carefully separate from other cats, and I know that respect and love you gave are essential ingredients for a good kitty life, especially when he is struggling with disease or infirmity.
Wabi sounds like a perfect name for such a being.
I’ve heard the expression wabi sabi before, but I didn’t really know what it meant. What a beautiful concept! I love it–it really resonates with me, too. I love the daisy photo–complete with cobweb in the background.
Kathy´s last blog ..Happiness is a Warm Project
Kathy, I’m so glad you resonate with it, too. It’s a wonderful concept, I think.
And I’m cheering very softly inside, that someone else besides me noted the cobweb strand glinting in the sunlight. For some reason, that kind of made the shot for me.
i discovered wabi sabi a few years ago myself. … to live by, my friend. to live by. : )
xo
Christina, I agree.
Is this related in any manner with the old Asian practice consisting of, when, for example, a manufacturer makes a flawless piece of pottery, adding on purpose an imperfection to it?
fLoreign´s last blog ..Postwar Germany in Cinema
I have no idea, honey. I did try and look it up, but so far I’m finding conflicting answers. Apparently there was a style of Japanese pottery popular at the time the tea ceremony was developed which has very obvious, amateurish-looking flaws in it, and potters did mark up their perfect works deliberately, giving them lumps or drips or bulges or imperfections in the glaze. Whether this developed because of the rise of the wabi sabi aesthetic, or arose contemporaneously with it, or set it off (maybe the style was popular to begin with or used by an influential person?), I cannot tell right now.
It is interesting, though; isn’t it? While I was doing research, I came across all kinds of cultures in which artists have deliberately marked up or “flawed” their works, for various reasons. My favorite was a sort of Zen-sounding approach: so that the pressure was off to try and produce a perfect piece of art.
There really is no such thing as perfection anyway, well apart from God. I think it’s the small imperfections in life, that make it interesting, but I also think it’s something that we can battle with. I think we are force fed “perfection” and therefore we all feel we need to live up to these images, not just in ourselves, but our lifestyles, homes, families etc.
LL Cool Joe´s last blog ..The hair- the wrong shirt – must be Wardrobe Wednesday-
Maybe everything is perfect, Joe — we just can’t see it yet.
That force-feeding of images of how life *should* be lived is why I’ve retired from it and no longer get my instructions or subliminal messages from television, fashion mags, Hollywood movies, or advertisements. Of course, nobody can escape entirely. I still pass billboards when traveling and receive junk mail and surf the internet. But it’s such a relief to bow out of all that icky pressure to be just perfect! It’s a powerful cultural phenomenon, for sure.
OK I knew that when I saw this in my dashboard a couple of days ago at work I knew I had to come back and spend more time contemplating this. I was soooo right in that choice.
“Wabi Sabi It contains the following concepts in its four catchy syllables: naturalness, imperfection, impermanence, simplicity, lack of pretension, incompleteness, and the patina that comes with age.”
That is what I have always thought about in the photographs I capture. I use no lights except for what is natural or provided by ambient light, I hate flash, I refuse for the most part to let any photo be touched by photoshop. I want that beauty that is life to show off the imperfections that so make me realize my world has a beauty that is outstanding. I so want my imperfections in the shot to be seen.
Your posting here appeals to me on so many levels and I am so enamored by it. Thank you for taking the time to create and share. I am humbled.
Namaste
Philip Cushing´s last blog ..Pitter Patter
Philip, you might say you have a wabi sabi style as a photographer. And it definitely works for you — beautifully!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. It meant a lot to me to read this comment.
Hello Meredith,
Do you think wabi sabi applies to people as they age as well? I like to think that wrinkles makes one more beautiful because their life is mirrored in them.
Noelle / azplantlady´s last blog ..Sodapop and the Un Forbidden Fruit
Definitely, Noelle. I think whatever we go through — and more importantly *how* we go through it and the attitude we choose as we do so — imprints itself on us and over time the accumulation becomes visible. I’ve met older men and women who inspire me to want to age well!
I had heard the phrase, but didn’t know what it meant. I like it.
I keep flowers in the vase until well past the time when most people would have thrown them out. I love how they are beautiful when they’re new and when they’re old. Come to think of it, some of my favorite photos were taken as the petals were falling. Flowers are a good model of how to age well.
elizabeth´s last blog ..building a bridge of love