Adopting the Japanese Wabi-Sabi Philosophy

Source: Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

It’s impossible to escape imperfections in our lives. Plans change, and we’re disappointed our bodies age, and we find new “flaws,” or we may face heartbreak we never thought we’d have to endure. It’s easy to see these things as negatives, but after reading this blog, I challenge you to view these moments and changes as beautiful and full of possibilities.

One thing that is consistent about life is inconsistency. We get attached to plans and ideas, and when things change, we suffer as a result. Perhaps we had plans to become a lawyer in New York City, but we ended up working at the local salon. Maybe we had plans of owning a home overlooking the ocean, but because we lost our job, we had to move back in with our parents. It’s easy to view these “imperfections” as bad, but I believe we have the power to see them as beautiful.

Many centuries ago in Japan, a philosophy called Wabi-sabi was introduced. At its core, it’s about learning to accept and eventually embrace the imperfections of life. A manifestation of Wabi-sabi begins with a tea ceremony. This tradition celebrates the beauty of tea, and in the past, the teacups themselves. Historically these teacups had to be perfect, but when the philosophy of Wabi-sabi was developed, this changed. Its roots stem from the three main Buddhist principles:

1. Impermanence
2. Suffering
3. Emptiness, or the absence of an egoic self

The concept of impermanence was especially influential for Wabi-sabi. Impermanence means that life will never stay the same. The perfect teacup may chip or fade, and over time instead of seeing these imperfections as a bad thing, people began to see them as beautiful. A term I use to describe these imperfections is flawed beauty.

So when a potter made a teacup, they no longer had to make them perfectly, and these beautiful flaws were now seen as things to embrace and cherish.

There is a tendency in the West to associate older things as ugly or worthless. But what if we began to adopt the philosophy of Wabi-sabi? Throughout this post, I try to reinforce the idea that our thoughts are compelling. If we reframe our thoughts around how we view older or flawed things, whether that’s a teacup or a body, we have the opportunity of seeing a lot more beauty in the world.

How to Incorporate Wabi-Sabi Principles Into Your Life

The first thing we must do is acknowledge that our thoughts are powerful. If we want to adopt a more accepting mindset, we must look at our thoughts throughout the day and see if we are judging others or maybe even judging ourselves. The best thing we can do to stop this cycle is to start seeing imperfections as things that are worth embracing. We can do this throughout our day. For example, let’s say you run out to the grocery store, and you find yourself judging the appearance of the person checking you out. It’s important first to catch yourself thinking these thoughts and then change them. It may sound like, “This person has lots of wrinkles. I wonder what type of life they lived or the memories that they have.” We will see so much more beauty in this world if we can end our judgments and accept that there is no such thing as perfect.

Next, we must practice accepting and loving other people, imperfections and all. Because once we do this, we begin to accept and love ourselves. Radical acceptance of others and ourselves will allow us to see the beauty in our lives amongst our perceived flaws or shortcomings.

It’s also important to remember that life is impermanent, and things are always changing. Plans change, our paths take new turns, and if we can train our minds to see beauty in our everyday life, no matter what direction we’re currently heading in, we’ll suffer less.

And lastly, it’s important to remember that it’s okay to want to change things in ourselves. As humans, it’s natural to want to grow and change. There are so many things out of our control, what family we’re born into, our genetics, our health sometimes, etc. But there will always be things that we cannot change, and that is when it’s important to accept those things and eventually learn to see them as beautiful. When we implement Wabi-sabi, we can begin to embrace and love our imperfections and stop seeing them as imperfections entirely.

I believe embracing our imperfections is needed to have a happy life. It’s important to accept all of our shortcomings. When we implement this radical acceptance or this Wabi-sabi philosophy, we’ll look at life with a kinder and loving lens. And with this lens, we can accept our imperfections and eventually learn to love them.