A book less about a Japanese design or art style than on a way of living.
The four concepts of Japanese style, from gaudy flashy to subdued earth colour palette like (where I am somewhere between Hade and Iki, so quite far from the Wabi Sabi subduedness) was interesting.
But this book is more something to experience, not much into content itself, inviting the reader to contemplate while speaking kind of soothingly to him or her. Normally I find self help books slightly annoying and shallow. Kempton however has a style and a clear sense of formulation, that led me to enjoy the book, all though I found the book rather a slow read that didn’t really urge me onwards to finish it.
Still three stars, since it was inspirational to read how I could work on my own perfectly imperfect (and transient and impermanent to boot) life.
I like really a lot of quotes from Wabi Sabi and hope to return to them later:
“All things, including life itself, are impermanent, incomplete and imperfect. Therefore, perfection is impossible, and imperfection is the natural state of everything, including ourselves.”
“Letting go of what you think should be does not mean giving up on what could be. Importantly, accepting imperfection doesn’t mean having to lower standards or drop out of life.”
“And there are at least fifty ways to describe rain in the Japanese language. Onomatopoeia is used extensively, including to convey sounds related to nature. Zāzā describes rain pouring down heavily, kopokopo suggests the gentle bubbling of water and hyūhyū is the sound of a whooshing wind.”
“First, we experience. Then we reflect. There are things that can’t be learned without being directly experienced. On the mountain, the mountain is the teacher.”
“Imperfection is not a compromise.
We need to trust and accept and be willing to say, I don’t know it all, but I don’t need to know it all. I know enough. I don’t have it all, but I don’t need to have it all. I have enough. And I am not all things to all people, but I don’t need to be all things to all people. I am doing my best to be all I can be to those who really matter. I am enough.
This does not mean having no goals or ambition and giving up, nor is it to suggest that striving for something is a bad thing. It’s about getting really clear on why we want what we really want, outside of materialistic desires for the accumulation of stuff and the pressure of expectation from others.”
“But this is what we do. The better we get at something the more we widen our field of vision. We move from puddle to pond, from pond to sea. The ideal is always changing, and as long as we use that as motivation to do more quality, heart-and-soul work, that’s fine. But when it becomes an exercise in comparison it’s a dangerous place to be. I’m not saying you should settle for the puddle. I’m saying you might be happy in the pond, and that’s OK if that’s where you do your best. You might feel destined for the sea, and that’s fine too. Just be sure you go there for the right reasons.”
“The true beauty is not in the achievement of some kind of perfection, but rather in the sharing of the creation itself.”
“But let’s also be mindful of all that we celebrate – who we are, not just what we achieve, giving credit to the effort, as well as the wins.”
“The thing to remember is this: someone else’s success does not hinder your chances of achieving what you want. Their success may even open up new opportunities for you and others. They will walk their path; you are supposed to walk yours.”