Wabi–Sabi ...an answer to perfectionism & materialism.
Wabi–Sabi ...an answer to perfectionism & materialism.
My own photo of the Zen garden of Ryōan-ji.
Do you find yourself overwhelmed with the demands of the materialistic world?
Is your inner voice driving you absolutely crazy with its out cry for perfection?..
Wabi-Sabi is a beautiful Japanese concept that introduces a different way of reacting to our environments, that may just be what you are looking for!
You can introduce some peace and serenity into your environments too by listening to what Wabi- Sabi has to say to us.
I know how intense the world feels right now, I wanted to introduce this concept to you if you are looking for some serene balance in your space.
I think the process of engaging purposefully in your environment can be extremely transformative. By exploring new concepts to yourself you can broaden your own horizons, and empower yourself to choose what is right for you.
Wabi-Sabi is a reaction to the false belief in perfection and materialism that plagues our current society.
By thinking outside of the box, and opening your perspective to include some of these Wabi Sabi principles you can have more autonomy over your own relationship to your environment (and I believe yourself as well).
Realizing how you emotionally react to your space you can create space for yourself and what matters to you the most instead of reacting to the outside world.
Wabi-Sabi is a more realistic and relaxed approach looking at the world around us than what is shown in our current society.
If you don’t mind following the crowd and the never ending “you aren’t good enough… buy this, or hire me to fix you!”, perfection narrative, Wabi-Sabi style isn’t for you.
If you are expansive enough to entertain the idea of embracing your flaws, change, and decay this could be a beautiful concept to explore for you!
I’m going to contrast some common societal drives with the concept of Wabi-Sabi below so you can further explore these concepts for yourself…
So… What is Wabi-Sabi?
“In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature.
Characteristics of wabi-sabi aesthetics and principles include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and the appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature.”
• Transience
In our current western society the concept of transience is largely ignored. We are sold products that have a very short shelf life and often are single use. But they are marketed to us as if we need them, and they have no connection to their true reality of fleeting meaning and actual use to us!
Wabi-Sabi by contrast accepts transience, not in a way that it utilizes throw away materials that end up in landfills... But by allowing the truth that things are always naturally in a state of change and movement. This mentally frees you from the unhealthy action of grasping and clinging to the material things that you “own”, and feeling the mental turmoil when things inevitably fall apart. This concept is intimately connected with the natural cycle of life and death.
Did you know David’s hand was carved out of correct proportion from the rest of his body on purpose by Michaelangelo?
Even this guy ain’t perfect, give yourself a break please.
• Imperfection
The concept of perfection is a virus that has plagued our world for generations. Our complete un-acceptance of reality and holding ourselves to the inane standards that we see on our over produced social media channels. Blindly accepting staged faces, fake emotional responses, and white washed environments with everything placed “just so”.
A Wabi-Sabi home brilliantly celebrates the differences and the flaws that are actually honest and real. You are nature and what makes nature beautiful is its differences and quirks that actually make you special. Handmade objects and craftsmen made pieces are quite at home in a Wabi-Sabi aesthetic. The concept of kintsugi (image below), of repairing broken pottery with gold, also is a beautiful representation of this concept at work, celebrating the flaws inherent in life.
• Incompleteness
Ah sorry to say but we all have been sold a story friends. A story that if you follow the script of society that there will be a glorious moment when, if you do what you are told… get good grades, ask for those raises, buy that big house, work for that company, etc. etc… that you will reach that moment of completeness! You will be fulfilled!
Look back on your own life as much as you can now in this moment. How many of these milestones, once completed, instead of giving you a sense of completeness, just made way for the next anxious goal… The same process easily translates to the “completion” of your home environment if you aren’t aware enough! Stay centered.
But Wabi-Sabi design shares the reality that NOTHING is ever complete. That the actual nature of our universe is constant change and movement. Birth and death. Growth and decay. Instead of trying to control your environment, you relax into the reality that completeness cannot actually exist in this reality, so there is no need to seek it in your environment (or your life for that matter)!
• Asymmetry
Aesthetics is a complicated concept. Because of it’s subjectivity, there is no true right way. This concept makes me think of the female body in society, and the way we have been sold that there is a right way to be depending on the time frame you live in. Be “fit” have a symmetrical face, be ideal, symmetrical faces are the most beautiful.
These concepts spill over into the design world as well of course. Through trends we are fed ideals illustrated by touched up photos of fake set spaces. Telling us “don’t you wish your house looked like this, maybe you are a failure because your house doesn’t look like this…make sure you have this…put this here or else”… it never ends.
A Wabi-Sabi interior throws the “shoulds” out the window. It accepts that everything can’t be balanced all of the time. It accepts that beauty also exists in the imbalanced. Using objects in a new way that is perhaps unexpected. It embraces true creativity that doesn’t have rules!
• Roughness
Our lives in society now have been very much sterilized. The edges have been sanded down completely! Advancements in technology and science have allowed for us to live in concrete jungles with paved roads and shiny glass glazed buildings. In a lot of ways we have lost character and meaning.
Wabi-Sabi celebrates the roughness. It doesn’t hide the rough edges it uses them and sees beauty in the unfinished and the unvarnished. It celebrates reality as it is right now. It doesn’t seek to hide or change things into a more perfect way, whatever that means.
• Simplicity
Society is an extremely complicated place. With our access to the internet and globalization there is so much complexity in the world. In design it becoming increasingly complicated to engage with the concepts of aesthetics that you want to explore in your environment. Because we are constantly being bombarded by different ideas that tout themselves as the right way. It’s all very hard to sift through.
This is where Wabi-Sabi creates with simplicity. Divorcing from over engineered solutions Wabi Sabi seeks the easy solution. Whatever gets the job done for you. It doesn’t seek to overcomplicate or over-engineer a space. It doesn’t chase down anyone else’s ideal.
• Economy
The next best thing! The constant rat race to buy the thing.. “because its the best.. and its NEW!.. and you need it because its the best.. and you will finally feel good when you buy it, and its worth the life and money you trade for it because you need it”… Ok stopp this is literally insane.
Wabi-Sabi says, maybe you can use what you have… Maybe you already have what you need. Maybe you don’t need that new expensive dining table, maybe you should re-finish your grandmother’s because it actually means something to you. Maybe you can share what you have because what you NEED isn’t that much…
• Austerity
The concepts of austerity vs. decoration oscillate on a pendulum depending on whats currently in style in a society. This oscillation is a way to constantly change the narrative of what is stylish at the moment, so that people have to constantly change the goals in their own life, spending more and more time and money in order to stay “relevant”.
Wabi-Sabi stays in the austere. It ignores the constant change in what is stylish. It keeps the aesthetic simple and celebrates negative space in regards to an environment. Never capitulating to what anyone else says is in style or the correct way to do things!
• Modesty
The seeking of approval through material or psychological boasting is a favorite pastime of our society at this moment of our culture. It is as if some people actually think that their inherent worth as a human being is attached to things like their appearance, what kind of car they drive, how big and beautiful their house is, how many degrees they have, all the exotic places they travel, how “successful” they are at their chosen career, what awesome adventure they had this weekend, what new clothes they bought, the list goes on forever...
Showing off CONSTANTLY to get external validation for their existence.
Wabi-Sabi supports the opposite. It opts out of showing off for validation. It celebrates modest problem solutions, divorced from fleeting ideas of what is worthy and sought after in our culture. It looks inward and finds value in modesty, and most importantly following ones own inner guidance.
Be like Georgia O’keefe…
“I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain, and I am quite free.”
• Intimacy
What does intimacy mean to you today? In a lot of ways our connectivity as a society has allowed for further sharing of information, while simultaneously allowing the sharing of falsehood and fake-ness too unfortunately. Intimacy to me is the bravery of showing up as who you really are and not trying to paste yourself with a fake veneer of how you wish others would see you.
Within Wabi-Sabi intimacy within ones environment is essential. This one is beautiful to me and important to creating a holistically healthy environment for yourself. It’s the stripping back of anything that doesn’t align with who you truly are, showing up in your full power, flaws and all and understanding that it is these differences that will help inform and change the world for the positive.
As Carl Jung says, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure however is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”
• Embracing Nature
In our overly materialistic society we have lost connection to nature on the planet. We expect things perfect, and we expect things fast. Two concepts that are foreign both to nature, as well as our own inner nature. When we place higher value on convenience rather than the earth, you end up with negative environmental and social impacts that we see playing out today.
Wabi-Sabi on the other hand exalts nature. Using what nature provides us as the backbone of this aesthetic. Creating with natural and sustainable materials, we begin to once again live in accordance with the world around us, instead of forcing our will upon nature. This brings us back into balance both externally in our created environments as well as internally since human beings are a part of nature too.
Wabi-Sabi is such a beautiful concept to me and Im so grateful to the Japanese for creating this thought framework.
I have found in my own environment that focusing on these principles have brought me more authenticity and a deeper connection to true reality.
Let me know if you guys found any of these tips helpful. I would also love to hear how the concept of Wabi-Sabi makes you feel below!
Thank you so much for reading!
Love,