Wabi-Sabi: The Japanese philosophy of perfect imperfection

The pursuit of perfection has become the norm in today's world, where chronic dissatisfaction, burnout, depression and anxiety reign supreme. We've subjected ourselves to unrealistic standards and rigorously chase an elusive ideal that is impossible to reach.

Advertisers show us snapshots of handsome people enjoying their favorite drink, dancing among a crowd of fashion models with ever smiling faces. This uncompromising image of perfect happiness yells at us: 'This is how your life should be'. And so we try to mimic the sublimity of a lifestyle ideal.

We spend fortunes on tweaking ourselves, our lives, our environment and then flood social media with pictures and videos to show the world the exquisiteness of our lives.

Perfection is what we need to accomplish; a perfectly symmetrical face, a perfectly sculpted body, perfect hair, skin, jawline, house, friends, family, partner, children, vacation. In short, an existence without fault.

But this isn't only impossible and exhausting to pursue: it's also unnatural as far as the Japanese world view of wabi-sabi is concerned.

Wabi-sabi rejects the pursuit of perfection and embraces the reality of imperfection. It teaches us to embrace existence as it is; perfectly imperfect. An ideal can only exist in our minds and the rest is just a replica.

Embracing imperfection doesn't mean that we should not self-improve. Self-improvement is okay as long as it is within reason and without the goal of perfection. Nor does it means to make a mess of things. A drug addiction, for instance, is not perfectly imperfect. Instead, it's a consequence of the inability to accept life's imperfection and pain and a desperate attempt to banish all painful elements from one's emotional state.

Aging, asymmetry, crookedness, damage, decay, death: embrace them as intrinsic part of nature, and you might begin to see the beauty in them.

We should see ourselves and each other in another light: not through the lens of ruthlessness perfectionism, but with an appreciation of flaws. It gently motions you to relax, slow down and enjoy your life. And it shows you that beauty can be found in the most unlikeliest of places, making everyday a doorway to delight.

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