Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.
It is a beauty of things modest and humble.
It is a beauty of things unconventional.
—Leonard Koren
The Invitation:
Use photography to notice, name, and embrace imperfection as a counterbalancing measure for the mind’s natural negativity bias.
Intention:
“The MSC program is primarily about transforming suffering, but much of life is pleasant. To live all the moments of our lives more fully, we need to embrace both the negative and positive in our lives and in ourselves.”
Materials:
- Camera (nothing fancy; a simple digital/phone camera will work)
- A safe place (outdoors or indoors) where you can move about slowly and mindfully, taking your time.
- Your journal
Settle in:
Before you begin this exercise, sit down, settle comfortably, and find the breath. Acknowledge all that it took to arrive at this location on this day, then release it. Be present to the physical sensations of air on your skin, the earth beneath your feet, and the surface you’re sitting on. Breathe until you feel present and centered.
Allow to emerge your idea of “beauty.” Perhaps it is the face of a loved one. Perhaps it’s a sunrise. Maybe it’s a garden in full, radiant bloom. What comes up for you? Allow these feelings to grow and bloom within you. Be with them and enjoy the sensations.
Knowing that everything in nature is either becoming or dissolving—and that this is an immutable condition of life—next allow to emerge objects or conditions which are not traditionally considered beautiful. Include items in decay, decline, and death.
The Activity:
Begin to move around and explore your space. As in an MSC Sense and Savor Walk, look deeply at your surroundings. Photograph the areas which repel you; areas in decay and decline—those which you do not consider “beautiful.”
You’ll know when you are finished taking photos.
Journal Reflection:
Review the photos you took. Notice which ones stand out because of the resistance or dissonance they evoke. Linger with those.
- Choose 3 images which stand out to you. In your journal, write down no less than 5 adjectives which describe each photo. Try and be as specific and concise as you can.
- Are there any themes or repeats among the adjectives you’ve written?
- What situation in your life do these themes or repeated adjectives remind you of? Notice the associated feelings in your body. Are these feelings similar or different to how you experience “ugliness” in your everyday life?
- Hand on your heart, note whether it is possible to hold yourself with tenderness as you tend to any difficult feelings. Staying with yourself until you feel the difficult feelings begin to shift.
- Finally, journal your response to the following question: How might the photos you’ve taken actually be an invitation to find the beauty and value in imperfection? And is it possible that the things you find “beautiful” could also have shadow sides?
Adapted from “Photographing Wabi-Sabi” in The Artist’s Rule by Christine Valtners Paintner