How Wabi-sabi Can Help You Embrace The Pandemic
Wabi-sabi is about seeing the world not with the logical mind, but through the feeling heart.
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Wabi-sabi gives us something that SOPs and vaccines don’t or can’t – help with the anxiety we have experienced during the pandemic to navigate through life.
But what is Wabi-sabi and why is this Japanese philosophy important today?
In short, in traditional Japanese aesthetics, it is a world view centered on accepting and embracing the imperfections of life.
It is a concept that has roots in the Bhuddist teaching of the three marks of existence: Impermanence, suffering, and emptiness, or the absence of an egoic self.
When applying to today’s reality, instead of dwelling on the plans that fell through just when we thought we had Covid-19 under control, why not embrace the Wabi-sabi way of life.
It started with an imperfect teacup
It was first manifested centuries ago in Japan with a tea ceremony celebrating the beauty of tea, and in the past, the teacups themselves.
Historically, the teacup had to be “perfect” (e.g. smooth, symmetrical and aesthetically flawless) but changed when the philosophy of Wabi-sabi was introduced.
Going back to impermanence, in this context means that life will never stay the same, the same way the “perfect” teacup may chip or fade over time. Instead of seeing the expected wear and tear as an imperfection as a bad thing, people began to see them as beautiful.
This kind of acceptance saw potters making teacups that no longer had to be perfect and the ‘flaws’ were now seen as things to embrace and cherish.
Inconsistency is the only consistent thing about life
Implementing Wabi-Sabi can help us to embrace life’s imperfections because it’s nearly impossible to change certain aspects of it.
As this article on Psychology Today puts it, one thing that is consistent about life is inconsistency and when we get attached to plans and ideas, and things change, we suffer as a result.
Incorporating Wabi-sabi into your life
It has taken a global pandemic for people to re-evaluate their priorities.
Accepting that we cannot control the existing state of affairs is a powerful teaching from Wabi-sabi. It reminds us to treasure the good we have right now and know that the bad will eventually pass.
In a write-up on Blinkist, Beth Kempton, a Japanologist and best-selling author of Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life, asks: “In this present moment, what is true about your life?”
Are you scrolling through your phone right now, drinking a cup of your favourite tea, or getting distracted by a fly buzzing around the room?
Think about the facts of your life at this exact moment. This moment is the one you are living right now. At some point you know you’ll stop scrolling, finish your tea, and that fly – it’ll fly away eventually to pester someone else.
Any time you feel stressed, worried, lost, or lonely, Beth tells us to notice what’s going on in your body and what’s going on around you. Know that this is just a moment and soon it will give way to another.
Also, if there’s a moment of joy- soak it all up so they become a precious memory.
The secret of Wabi-sabi lies in seeing the world not with the logical mind but through the feeling heart. Perhaps that is the way to navigate this pandemic and come out the other side with a sense of hope.
Beth Kempton, a Japanologist and best selling author of Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life,
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