Alex: "Wabi-sabi, as I’ve come to know it, is a Japanese aesthetic that is less of a style than it is an experience of finding beauty in the ordinary, the imperfect, and the broken; a process of accepting and even embracing the perceived “ugliness” and often uncomfortable emptiness inherent in our day to day lives. In the spring semester of my freshman year I ended up writing a fairly extensive research paper on wabi-sabi and explored the question: in what ways can the embrace of the wabi-sabi aesthetic in life and design contribute to human mental health and wellbeing?"
I hope for all of you the ability to find what drives you, what grounds you, what keeps you happy and productive, and what separates you from the rest. I'd love to know that you found it through studying art - but if not, just find it.
Some things I wrote down:
- When you deal with craziness (like the day-to-day @ Maggie Walker), you can better appreciate the simple moments
- Learning to "play" can cultivate compassion and can help one to be more resourceful
- Look for "wabi-sabi" in everyday moments and things - like art made from what nature had discarded (and that people haven't learned to appreciate)
- IT JUST HAPPENS but you have to be open to it/ready for it (whatever "it" may be for you)
- You aren't expected to be perfect (at whatever you are learning) - you ARE expected to put put your heart into it