Wabi-Sabi

Nothing Lasts, Nothing is Finished, Nothing is Perfect

I wonder if those 3 phrases seem as crazy and disheartening to you as they initially did to me. Sounds like doomsday. When things are going well, I want them to stay that way forever. Even though, my life experience tells me that they can’t and won’t. I still like to sit in the comfort of feeling like … whatever is making me so comfortable… is going to last.

When the egg shell that protects my illusion starts to crack, I freak out! No, no, I think… wait, I want things to go stay as they are or when I was ‘happy.’ On the other hand, I know that many of the joys and experiences that make me who I am, (in a good way), are the result of changes that I couldn’t foresee.

Things change, people and places change… in fact everything changes.

Nothing is Finished

But wait… I think, I just finished my lunch!

What I think this means is… each of us is a work in progress. Just because I graduated from high school or got a job or moved to a new place or whatever… the journey to become who I am, is lifelong.

It takes a lot of energy to NOT CHANGE. In fact, it takes, MUCH more energy to fight a oncoming change, than it does to go with the flow. I’m not 100% sure what I’m fighting/protecting, when I refuse to change, but I sure fight it. It feels like.., if I change… something terrible is going to happen.

Nothing is Perfect

Intellectually, I understand that nothing is perfect. Although when I look at nature’s wonders… I think… somethings are perfect. But not people.

I expect to be perfect. Making a mistake is like a crime. I know how I got this way, the question is, how do I stop being a perfectionist. I wish I knew the secret, but the only way I know is to just, one day at a time, try to be in this day only. Be gentle with myself and others. Enjoying the world as it is offered to me, including appreciating all the gifts I have been given. Many years ago I heard a phrase and decided to adopt it. “Things will always change, the best way to cope with it is to help create it.”

Nothing is permanent, nothing is perfect… but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this day.

Image credit: Wabi-sabi everyday