November 22, 2009
UTNE READER

Wabi-Sabi: The Art Of Imperfection

(Page 2 of 2)

September/October 2001
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Natural Home (www.naturalhomemagazine.com/) 
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Bringing wabi-sabi into your life doesn’t require money, training, or special skills. It takes a mind quiet enough to appreciate muted beauty, courage not to fear bareness, 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 appreciating rather than perfecting.

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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 scent 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, for genuineness, for shared history manifests in these things.There’s no right or wrong to creating a wabi-sabi home. It can be as simple as using an old bowl as a receptacle for the day’s mail, letting the paint on an old chair chip, or encouraging the garden to go to seed. Whatever it is, it can’t be bought. Wabi-sabi is a state of mind, a way of being. It’s the subtle art of being at peace with yourself and your surroundings.

Robyn Griggs Lawrence is editor-in-chief of Natural Home, the magazine of earth-inspired living. Now in its second year of publication, it keeps getting better with age. Covering subjects that range from choosing non-toxic paints, to building labyrinths, to designing a straw-bale greenhouse, Natural Home is a practical and elegant guide for people who want to make their homes more beautiful, earthy, and environmentally friendly. This article is from the May/June 2001 issue. Subscriptions: $24.95/yr. (6 issues) from Box 552, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0552.

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