Wabi-Sabi and Kintsugi Help You Embrace Imperfection

I absolutely love the Wabi-Sabi philosophy. It resonates with me on a very deep level, especially when it applies to the environment in which we live. Drawn to Zen aesthetics and the feeling of less is more, as I’ve discussed in previous blogs, I first learned of Wabi-Sabi from my yoga teacher. Leonard Koren explains in his book, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, “Wabi-Sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble.”

The two beautiful ways to embrace imperfection when organizing your home: Wabi-Sabi and Kintsugi

Wabi-Sabi

The Wabi-Sabi philosophy is a way of living, one that honors the slow and mindful, simple and minimal, imperfect and impermanent. There is a deep appreciation for life, for the small, simple, and beautiful. We can see beauty in imperfections and find an appreciation for the time, history, and life that expresses the fullness of an experience of a person. It is an appreciation for the authentic, simple, and true.

The philosophy of Wabi-Sabi applies not only to nature but to our living spaces; beauty is expressed in the minimal and simple. The blank wall with one work of art. One treasured keepsake on the desk. One elegant flower in a thin vase alone on a bare table. A beautiful contrast to filling a room with things, a desk piled with books and papers, flower arrangements everywhere, tables piled high with meaningless objects.

We can train the eye to slow down and value what is beautiful in its simplicity and imperfections. At The Uncluttered Life, we encourage you to see this beauty in yourself and others and appreciate the gifts and gentle acceptance of authentic beauty that Wabi-Sabi brings into your life. As Leonard Koren writes, “Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry.”

Kintsugi

A second concept, Kintsugi, is the act of seeing beauty in imperfections through the art of golden joinery, the Japanese art of repairing broken, fractured pottery and art with gold lacquer. This form of art is centuries old. Rather than repair ceramic pieces with a clear glue to restore a piece as closely as possible to its original form, the repair is made with gold dust in the glue to highlight the area of break or fracture.

In contrast to the practice of discarding broken pieces of pottery, this unique repair gives the art a new life. It enhances and celebrates its unique history, using gold to honor fractures and breaks instead of hiding or disguising them. The colorful cracks and lines of Kintsugi often make the repaired piece even more beautiful. The origin of this art is an extension of the Japanese philosophy Wabi-Sabi, honoring beauty in the flawed or imperfect.

Suggestions for including Wabi-Sabi in your life: Clear off a counter, desktop, or kitchen table. Take everything off except one piece of art, one plant or flower. Notice how your eye is drawn differently to this space. Both of these concepts celebrate the art and beauty of imperfection.

For more about Wabi-Sabi, consider the book, Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton. For more information, see www.DianaChristinson.com.