With origins based on Taoist theory and associated with Zen Buddhism, wabi-sabi evolved in 16th Century Japan thanks to the tea master Sen no Rikyu who although not the inventor, was among those responsible for its growing status and popularity.
Wabi-sabi Origins
Its introduction to the Western world was via the American magazine, House Beautiful, in the 1960s and resurfaced again in the 1990s through Leonard Koren’s book, Wabi-sabi for artists, designers, poets and philosophers.
Wabi-sabi does not translate easily but wabi originally meant desolate or lonely and often referred to the loneliness of living in nature. Today wabi can refer to understated elegance and has come to mean fresh, simple, unmaterialistic and at one with nature. Sabi connotes the beauty or tranquillity that comes with age and represents a certain dignity and grace in the fleeting nature of ageing.
Wabi-sabi at Home
Within the home, wabi-sabi is an aesthetic that is not about clutter or chaos. It celebrates simplicity and modesty. To introduce the notion of wabi-sabi to your home is to accept the idea that imperfection is okay. The half-finished painting or the favoured cracked vase can hold as much, or more, beauty as the stylised and perfect lamp bought from the expensive department store.
Not so much a decorating style as a way of life, wabi-sabi reminds us to embrace the transience of life – to be humble to life’s flow and constant changing and to find beauty in the cracks and crevices that transpire with the change of time. It is, however, vital to keep the home from becoming sloppy as this would be going against the framework of wabi-sabi.
How to Use Wabi-sabi
It may have an aura of haphazardness but wabi-sabi is certainly not unclean or messy. The home’s design and objects should be unpretentious, earthy and irregular – think aged wood not laminate; handmade, natural crafts and objects that may be mismatched but to your mind, beautiful. The home should suggest a natural process and reflect contentment with one’s life and state of being.
Ways to wabi-sabi include incorporating objects in your home that have an intimacy, when purchasing things for the home one should think about the person who created it and from where it originated. Furthermore, actions such as sweeping floors rather than vacuuming should be introduced and considered a meditative action rather than a chore.
Embracing the Beautiful with Wabi-sabi
Wabi-sabi also celebrates the beauty in aging. With wabi-sabi we are encouraged to accept our own flawed beauty and surrender to the forces of nature including the wrinkles and fine lines that arrive with age. Through wabi-sabi we are taught that the signs of aging reveal how much a person has experienced love, laughter and loss.
In theory, by cultivating wabi-sabi as a way of life we should rejoice in our imperfections and generally feel at peace with our surroundings and human form.
Erika Pennington - null
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