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Mojo Monday: Perfectly Imperfect. The Japanese Mindset of Wabi Sabi · Hardiness with Dr Paul Taylor

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, it's Carl Taylor here for this week's Mojo Monday. So.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: I was chatting with a friend the other day and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: our conversation turned to acceptance. And she has four kids,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and she shared a story about a time that they
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: were at the beach and she was wearing a bikini
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: and her youngest son came up to her and asked
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: her about the loose skin on her tummy, and she
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: proudly explained to him that her tummy represented all her
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: beautiful children and the love that she had for each
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: of them. And her son smiled and skipped off and
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: went off to play. And this story just really moved me.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: And it's beautiful. Well, I think it's just beautiful how
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: she took something that many might see as an imperfect
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: action or a flaw and found meaning and beauty in it.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: And she passed this perspective onto her son, and it
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: reminded me of the Japanese concept of wabi sabi. So,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: wabi sabi is a philosophy and a mindset that values
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: the beauty in imperfection. It values the natural aging process
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and the idea that nothing is ever truly complete and
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: that there is this impermanence in everything, and it originates
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: in Japan way back in the ninth century, and it
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: is it is linked to the tea ceremony, the Japanese
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: tea ceremony. So it's the appreciation of these unique irregularities
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: in handcrafted ceramic tea bowls and this simplistic environment where
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: the tea ceremony took place. So from this perspective, it's
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: about cherishing that uneveness, unevenness or the imperfections in a
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: handmade bowl or cup, the cracks in old wood, or
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the soften, sort of stained pages of an aged book.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: And I've always loved ceramics, and especially the perfectly imperfect
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: handcrafted pieces that have this beautiful, earthy charm. I think
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: I've mentioned before I collect Japanese the sort of the
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Japanese style little tea cups which I drank my morning
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: espresso in. But in today's world, this perspective is really
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: important because so many of us are focused on striving
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: for this unattainable perfection, whether it's being perfect at your
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: job or having a perfect appearance, even being a perfect parent.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: You know, we all find aspects of ourselves that we
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: don't like and that we want to change, and today,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: more than ever, we have these means to change, especially
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the physical. So we've got botox and lip fillers, and
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: we can have perfect eyebrows, and there's plastic surgery, and
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: of course there's different reasons for choosing to change our appearance,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: but if the goal is perfection, it's never going to
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: be reached. We change, and in Wabi Sabi terms, everything
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: is impermanent. We grow, we have babies, we age, we
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: get lines on our faces. What if we embraced these
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: changes and adopted this Wabi sabi mindset and find beauty
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: in our own imperfections. So what are these these perfect
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: imperfections actually represent. So it's clear that this philosophy isn't
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: just about objects or physical appearance. It's also about our
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: experiences and our lives. So every scar, every wrinkle, every
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: gray hair tells a story. They are a testament to
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: the life that we've lived, the challenges that we've overcome,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: and the wisdom that we've gained, and they're all something
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: to be proud of. So by embracing Wabi sabi, we
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: learn to see our worth beyond the superficial. We start
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: to appreciate the journey that we're being on to get
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: us where we are now, we start to appreciate that,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: just like the environment around us, the plants, the animals,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: and the birds, that we too are part of nature.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: And it's about finding contentment and peace in the present
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: moment and recognizing that our value lies not in perfection,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: but in authenticity. So I invite you, next time you
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: look in the mirror to see something you wish you
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: could change. Remember the story of my friend at the beach.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: Remember the stories and the beauty in the imperfect the
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: value of our impermanence and the wisdom that we've all
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: gained as we've aged. Embrace your own wabi sabi and
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: find the beauty in your perfect imperfections. Thank you so
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: much for listening, and I will catch you next week.