death spiral? No. We toss them. They
served us; now they don’t.
On the other hand, some of us
bind their stems, hang them upside
down to dry and repurpose them as
potpourri. It’s in that quiet transition
from vibrant bouquet to dying roses
that we can appreciate the beauty of
their imperfection and maybe our
own. That appreciation, that mindful
awakening is wabi sabi.
In his book, Wabi Sabi: The Japa-
nese Art of Impermanence, Andrew
Juniper says, “Wabi sabi’s influence
on Japanese aesthetic values has
inspired such arts as the tea ceremo-
ny, flower arranging, haiku, garden
design and Noh (ancient) theater. It
offers an aesthetic ideal that uses the
uncompromising touch of mortality
to focus the mind on the exquisite
transient beauty to be found in all
things impermanent.”
These days it is easy to become
entranced by the shiny new object.
We love our gadgets, our cool tech
stuff. Carpet cleaning robot? Bring it!
Wabi sabi is 180 degrees in the other
direction. Walk through an antique
shop. Find an old worn table. Look for
nicks and weathered areas where per-
haps elbows rested generation after
generation, where robust conversa-
tions and peels of laughter forged
new friendships and loving family
celebrations late into the night. You
can feel the subtly undulating surface
and imagine when life stopped for
a while and the table provided that
place of connection.
There is a soulful residue in cer-
tain old things where aging suggests
that the thing itself in all its imper-
fection emanates an indescriblable
intrinsic grace. It speaks to us, and if
we are listening, opens us to see-
30 IMAGINE l FALL 2018
ing the beauty in all things. Maybe
that’s why we both love the natural
vibrance of fall colors and experi-
ence the sadness of the leaves falling
and winter approaching. A touch of
melancholy is wabi sabi too.
The recognition of imperma-
nence, some will tell you, is a free-
ing experience. It gives us options in
its raw truth. For Buddhists it is an
essential contemplation to prepare
for the next life. Seeing the beauty in
imperfection around us can become
a deeply enriching practice of mind-
fulness and can release us from the
searching and grasping to the next
passing pleasure. Wabi sabi can
open our eyes, slow us down, and
awaken us to a new appreciation of
the extraordinary tapestry of experi-
ences that is our life. It can naturally
take us to new depths of inner peace
by seeing things just as they are, and
relaxing in that truth.
Wib Middleton is a professional photographer
and writer who explores the wabi sabi aesthetic
as a way to express the beauty of impermanence.
Whether it’s a fading rose or an old factory door,
his images remind us of the ephemeral nature
of all things. For more examples of his wabi sabi
imagery, go to wibmiddletonphotography.com