Wabi-Sabi and the Psychology of Imperfection

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Wabi-Sabi and the Psychology of Imperfection
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How we can better appreciate those times when life isn't perfect, by mattjohnsonisme

and aesthetic that centers around an appreciation of imperfection, impermanence, and incompleteness. It's a complex concept, deeply embedded within Japanese culture, and does not admit to an easy, concrete definition. As Taro Gold described in his book, Living wabi-sabi, it's an inherently elusive term. He writes,"Ask people on a Tokyo street to describe wabi-sabi, they will likely give you a polite shrug and explain that wabi-sabi is simply unexplainable.

The Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami remarked on this in giving speeches. Despite being much more comfortable in his native Japanese, he preferred to give large crowds lectures in English. As he describes,"Much as I love reading books in English, speaking in English is definitely not my forte. But that makes me feel all the more comfortable giving a speech. I just think,"It's a foreign language, so what are you going to do? This was a fascinating discovery for me".

Some of the best examples of this are in music. For example, consider the experimental composer John Cage, known for incorporating nature into his pieces and channeling an organic sound. He describes his orientation to music in the following way: His most well-known piece of music is 4′33″. Performed live, the orchestra rests, holding their instruments in silence for four minutes and 33 seconds. Critics often deride the piece for being"just silence." However, Cage's stated intention is much different. 4′33″ is the non-existence of deliberate orchestration and an appreciation for the naturally occurring ambient sound in the auditorium.In any discipline,"perfect" is the ultimate achievement.

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