The Perfection of Imperfection…

…finding beauty in what is, and, of course, in the spots of Dalmatians ;-)

Does What You See Exist?

In reality there is nothing in the universe which is completely perfect or completely still; it is only in the minds of men that such concepts exist. [Alan W. Watts]

I find the concept of perfection fascinating — that there is an interplay between what is, and what we strive for, and how we blind ourselves to the perfection of the present by placing a close-up image of something that exists only in our minds — to be defined as ‘perfect’.

The Perfection of Imperfection

The Japanese Taoist term wabi-sabi is sometimes used to define this — a reaction to lavishness, ornamentation and materialism, there is art of finding beauty in imperfection and in what comes out of time and loneliness.

Yes. Time and loneliness. And the characters have a longer history — wabi 侘 is reported to mean ‘despondence’, and sabi 寂 ‘loneliness’ or ‘solitude’.

This isn’t just about the broken pot, the admiration for age, the wonder at decades or millennia of use, and the honouring of ancient craftsmanship, there is a feeling to the idea, not just a form.