Learn to Appreciate the Simplicity and Transience of Life Through the Wabi-Sabi Aesthetic

You won't find wabi-sabi in Botox, glass-and-steel skyscrapers, smartphones, or the drive for relentless self-improvement. It's a beauty hidden right before our eyes, an aesthetic of simplicity that reveals itself only when animated through the daily work of living.

Broadly, wabi-sabi is everything that today’s sleek, mass-produced, technology-saturated culture isn’t. It’s flea markets, not shopping malls; aged wood, not swank floor coverings; one single morning glory, not a dozen red roses. Wabi-sabi understands the tender, raw beauty of a gray December landscape and the aching elegance of an abandoned building or shed. It celebrates cracks, crevices, rot, and all the other marks that time, weather, and use leave behind. To discover wabi-sabi is to see the singular beauty in something that may look decrepit and ugly at first.

Wabi-sabi reminds us that we are all transient beings on this planet—that our bodies, as well as the material world around us, are in the process of returning to dust. Nature’s growth, decay, and erosion cycles are embodied in frayed edges, rust, and liver spots. Through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace the glory and the melancholy found in these marks of passing time.

Bringing wabi-sabi into your life doesn’t require money, training, or special skills. It takes a quiet mind to appreciate muted beauty, the courage not to fear bareness, and the willingness to accept things as they are—without ornamentation. It depends on the ability to slow down, to shift the balance from doing to being, to appreciate rather than perfect.

You might ignite your appreciation of wabi-sabi with a single item from the back of a closet: a chipped vase, a faded piece of cloth. Look deeply for the minute details that give it character; explore it with your hands. You don’t have to understand why you’re drawn to it, but you do have to accept it as it is.

Rough textures, minimally processed goods, natural materials, and subtle hues are all wabi-sabi. Consider the musty-oily scene that lingers around an ancient wooden bowl, the mystery behind a tarnished goblet. This patina draws us with a power that the shine of the new doesn’t possess. Our universal longing for wisdom, genuineness, and shared history manifests itself in these things.

As we age, we often try to hide or reverse the signs of time through various methods such as cosmetic procedures, anti-aging creams, or even hiding our age altogether. But wabi-sabi teaches us to embrace the natural process of aging and find beauty in imperfection and transience. It encourages us to accept the wrinkles, the gray hairs, and the scars that tell the story of our unique journey.

In our youth-obsessed culture, we tend to associate aging with negative connotations such as decline, deterioration, and irrelevance. But wabi-sabi reminds us that aging is a natural part of life and should be celebrated rather than feared or avoided. It encourages us to see the beauty in the wrinkles that form around the eyes of a beloved grandparent, the patina that develops on a cherished piece of furniture, or the lines on our own faces that tell the story of a life well-lived.

Wabi-sabi also teaches us to appreciate the passage of time and the way it transforms objects and spaces. A building that was once a bustling factory may now be abandoned and crumbling, but it still holds a beauty and history that cannot be replicated by a new, sterile glass-and-steel structure. Similarly, an antique piece of furniture may have scratches and dents, but it has a character and authenticity that a brand-new mass-produced item can never match.

In embracing the beauty of imperfection and transience, wabi-sabi encourages us to slow down and appreciate the present moment. It teaches us to let go of our constant striving for perfection and instead find contentment in what we have, right now. Whether it’s a simple bowl of soup, a quiet moment in nature, or an old book with dog-eared pages, wabi-sabi reminds us that beauty can be found in the smallest, most ordinary things.

Wabi-sabi offers us a refreshing perspective on aging, imperfection, and transience. It reminds us to embrace the natural process of aging, find beauty in imperfection, and appreciate the passage of time. By incorporating wabi-sabi into our lives, we can learn to slow down, find contentment in the present moment, and discover the beauty hidden right before our eyes.