Perfect imperfection: Wabi-Sabi (侘寂)
You can read further to feel better if you sometimes get depressed about the unexpected rainy days, irritated by missing a train, or saddened by a wrinkle on the face.
10 life-changing Japanese sayings
This series introduces poetic Japanese sayings which inspire life. And the Japanese word today:
Wabi-Sabi (侘寂)
Perfect Imperfection
The essence of the Wabi-Sabi philosophy can be expressed in a lot of subtleties of life, ranging from loving the crescent moon more than the full moon, choosing the mended cup over the shiny cup to appreciating the delay of the train.
You may think this is another expression of positivity, yet it’s subtly different. Taking the analogy the half full, half empty cup as an example, wabi-sabi is not hoping the cup is half full, but appreciating the emptiness of the cup. How can that be?
Relationship rusts
A pair of jeans worn out only because you wear it for ages, and on that account, this pair of rusty jeans is obviously yours. In other words, every perfect thing can be craftily engineered for mass appeal, however, thousands of replicas are out there, while only imperfect existence is unique echoing your identity.
Hanging out with friends is reminiscent of this wabi-sabi perspective as well, considering that only the best friends know your flaws which you hide from everyone intentionally. Ironically, the more you pretend to be unflawed, the more challenging it is to build true bondings with the people around you.
What’s saddening me a little is the fact that some of us tend to be cautious in front of the people we are fond of, like handling a fragile glassware, hoping the perfect us would earn the adoration we deserve, yet unfortunately, this often makes us look like nobody special.
Happiness fleets
We tend to hold on to happiness, though we are unable to do so. Everything has its golden time, be that as it may, everything is impermanent. It follows that you may only enjoy a glimpse of the fleeting perfection, leaving yourself with the lingering sorrow of missing the good old days.
“Happiness is a fata morgana. the only way to not end up unhappy is to not long for happiness.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Instead, you can pursue the maturity of life, namely that even after you have accepted the fact that nothing lasts, completes nor achieves perfection, you still feel at ease and find life meaningful.
I still choose to fight for life, but not for just happiness, more importantly, for how I age and mature with time.
Truth loses
The more beautiful the story is, the more likely the truth is covered. It’s in our nature to be blinded by the “too beautiful” presence.
Theoretically, there is only one single truth, though we are surrounded by a hundred versions of truth on news and social space, not to mention the booming virtual reality. As a matter of fact, truth can be partly expressed as well as emotionally exaggerated to fit the goals of the speaker and the tastes of the listeners. After all, no one could ever verify the true truth.
Even in this case, we should still train our eyes to distinguish the truth that matters to you and the otherwise. To illustrate, Facebook’s privacy crisis may make you leave Facebook for another platform who claims to handle your credentials with care, while in truth this may not make another platform safer unless you start evaluating what kinds of information you share online. You deserve your own interpretation of truth in lieu of the reported truth.
The modern life is a little overly alluring and excessively astonishing. Wabi-sabi, the perfect imperfection mindset, may be one of the antidotes to this “too beautiful” world.
Dear readers, if you find my story imperfect, isn’t this the perfect reason to clap and share?
Your support will be the best motivation for me to go on.
Read my other posts in the same series:
Cut off, let go and leave behind 断捨離
Written by Rex Lam K.M.
Someone who tries hard to love the saddening life a little bit more, and happens to see the light through the lens of Japanese philosophy.
