The perfectionist that’s ‘me’, now seeks solace in Wabi Sabi – the wisdom of imperfection. Oh yes, I am tired of being a perfectionist. I love craft work, stitching and (nowdays) writing. Unfortunately most of my projects do not see the light of the day because I am scared of making mistakes…I am self-demanding and self unforgiving when I do start the project but it isn’t ‘PERFECT’.
So, when the book was reviewed in one of the reading clubs, I instantly added it to my ‘To Be Read’ list! I have fallen in love with this philosophy which has three principles:
- Nothing is perfect
- Nothing is finished
- Nothing lasts forever.
All the three principles are explained with examples from real life. But my fascination was for the first tenet. The book celebrates imperfection. The author goes to the extent of saying that perfection and beauty are western concepts which create stress in our life. Who can better understand this than me? I am well acquianted with the other two tenets because they are inspired from Buddhism and Zen.
The author writes about Wabi Sabi as a way of life, in art and the philosophy. He motivates the reader to live by its principles to simplfy life, be present in the moment and living in tune with Nature. He advocates life of ‘minnimalism’; something I could relate to because I have already started traversing on this path.
The tables to enlist ‘Antithesis of wabi sabi philosophy’ and ‘Wabi Sabi philiosophy’ help to get a clear comparison of the two concepts. On one side is the life we are living and on the other side is the life we aspire to live. But change in life doesn’t come so easily. It has to be studied in depth and this is where the book lacks. The author quotes excellent examples but to ask people to set out on this path would require a little more…motivation!
As for me, this book has set me off on a new journey. I will read more about it, take some notes and more than that I would put the philosophy into practice so that I can celebrate imperfection.
“Be the best imperfect person you can be!”
Wabi Sabi philosophy
The 'indulgent'...bystander 