Wabi sabi want

Wabi sabi is a familiar sounding word (or is it words?) but I can't say that I ever knew what it meant. It came up in the most recent book I read - Haiku: the sacred art - and my mind keeps taking me back there.

According to the author, wabi sabi is almost impossible to translate directly, but it "involves appreciation for the spiritual gifts of poverty and loneliness, along with the beauty of things that have aged naturally." She continues, "The inner beauty of wabi sabi is found in the essentials of a simple and sometimes lonely life, rather than in the hectic materialism of the modern world. The outer beauty of wabi sabi is found in a rustic earthenware pot, chipped and stained with use, rather than in the elegant perfection of an intricately glazed porcelain vase."

I did a bit of research but failed to turn up much more than the fact it's an ancient Japanese worldview born from Buddhist roots. Nonetheless, I like the idea.

I suppose part of the appeal for me is to counter my struggle with perfectionism. However I also like the idea of embracing loneliness. I would assume it's not suggesting going life alone - because loneliness and being alone are not the same thing - but accepting that not everyone fits in perfectly everywhere. We are all different, and that's okay!

Anyway, even without knowing a great deal about it, I want to be more appreciative of the "cracks" and unique nature of people... and maybe even the world at large. There seems to be a great deal of exasperation at the moment with the way things appear headed - at least in the USA. Wouldn't it be nice to know that maybe, just maybe, it's not as bad as it seems?

And, maybe I'm not as bad as I seem either. Who knows...