WABISABI: What is Wabi-Sabi x How to improve your life with the teaching of Wabi-Sabi?

Dear friends,

This post is dedicated to friends who are tired of society's rat race and want to explore ways to find peace within themselves. 

Last week I shared my Wabisabi journey with you. 

So this week, we'll dive deeper into the meaning of Wabi-Sabi and steps to see a new perspective of life. 

I was born in 1980, 

from the '80s till 2020

Little by little

Our world has sped up, from what we have, is no longer enough

Time, money, fame, attention...

Collective beliefs, leading you into an endless rat race

I'm fat, I'm old, I'm slow, I'm not up to date...

There's less of a day when you think you are perfectly ok

One day, I was finally able to see how the system is played

It's an era to trap you in consumerism every day

Night and day,  day and night, 

I've decided to design my own life, my own way

"Once you stop chasing the wrong things, the right ones catch you"

-KUSHANDWIZDOM 

What did I learn from wabi-sabi?

Wabi-sabi teaches me the nature of life

Wabi: Finding joy and beauty in simple things

*Practice this and you'll have tonnes of things and people to be thankful for

Sabi:  Acceptance of the process of an ageing beauty

*Embrace this and you'll learn to accept yourself as you really are 

Self-love is the beginning of universal love

When Wabi-sabi conjoined

It becomes an act in embracing impermanence, incompleteness and imperfection

The nature of life as it is

Here are the 3 cores to introduce you to Wabi-sabi

1. Impermanence

In nature, change is the only constant, to accept your flaws wholeheartedly is to make peace with yourself. A simple mind switch, you'll learn how to let go what doesn't serve you anymore and welcome the unknown with open arms.

2. Incomplete vs complete and 3. Imperfect vs perfect

In nature, life itself is whole and complete. 

Chasing for the latest trend or things that will never age is a never-ending game. You will see yourself spending countless money and energy on products to stay up to the game. When the season is over, they are barely worn or used. The lucky ones will end up in a Carousell or the Salvation Army, those which no longer spark joy will end their life as trash.

"Gratitude turns what we have into enough"

Melody Beattie

Gratitude will let you treasure what's available in your hands and embrace its flaws (imperfection/incomplete-ness). To put your gratitude into action: mending, fixing, reconciling, reconnecting, recycling, are the few actions to perfect/ complete the broken ones.

"A complete soul can embrace the physically incomplete; a heart embracing imperfection can mend the broken into a whole"

 

Some information is taken from wabi-sabi by Leonard Koren

How to slowly say goodbye to the old habit and begin to practice wabi-sabi?

I use to believe that old habits are impossible to change, Atomic Habits by James Clear gave me a brand new perspective on how to plant my desirable habit into my daily life.

He believes big things come from small beginnings 

"The purpose of setting goals is to win the game, the purpose of building system is the continued play of the game."

-James Clear

It's not the habit that failed us but the system that we've created.

"Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement"

- James Clear

Our addiction to social media does not happen in one day: it was added 1% daily and if we continuously do it for a year, it will increase by 37% (omg!!). And the good news is, we can learn something new in the same way at 1% a day and at the end of the year, we will improve 37% (wow!).

So how?

Here are the 4 laws of behaviour change:

The 1st Law: Make it obvious

The 2nd Law: Make it attractive

The 3rd Law: Make it easy

The 4th Law: Make it satisfying

Here I'll share with you how I begin to run and brisk walk daily since 1st June.

The 1st Law: Make it obvious

Set timer for exercise, prepare my running outfit and shoe the day before 

The 2nd Law: Make it attractive

Stay young and fit

Training my perseverance

The 3rd Law: Make it easy

Implement the 2 mins practice to begin any habit, beginning with 2 mins. Now I've increased up to 30 mins per day. The key is to complete my run and not to perfect my run.

The 4th Law: Make it satisfying

Sweat and smaller tummy are the biggest rewards to keep me going back to running.

For those who reside in Singapore, Atomic Habits book and audio is available at Libby. 

You can also watch this video by Ali Abdal, which I find the way he summarizes the book pretty useful, to aid you to begin a new habit.

For my friends who prefer the explanation in Mandarin: 艾爾文的4個法則可以讓你一生受用 

A Summary:

Be it wabi-sabi or modernism, it is about choosing what suits you best and finding the balance in between.

Sometimes, I am 70% wabi-sabi and 30% modernism and vice versa, but our survival instinct will affect our choices from situations to situations. 

It's important to know where you are, what you want and how to work towards your path with the appropriate system. 

4 laws of tiny behaviour change:

The 1st Law: Make it obvious

The 2nd Law: Make it attractive

The 3rd Law: Make it easy

The 4th Law: Make it satisfying

I am choosing a sustainable path, therefore wabi-sabi resonates much with me. With the 3 cores of wabi-sabi: Impermanence, incomplete, imperfect, I can reconnect with nature and stay grounded.

You are the designer of your own life :)

So how will you design yours?

Make your life urs,

Waee Waee

Good to read: 

• Keep wondering by Kelly Limerick (social media addiction and how to get rid of it)

• Wabi-sabi by Leonard Koren 

• Wabi-sabi Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life by Beth Kempton

• Atomic Habits tiny changes, remarkable result by James Clear (easy to read and practice)