Jan

What’s in the Art of New Year’s Resolutions?

by Meredith Mullins on January 2, 2019

Happy new year hat on weathered boards, showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Kameleon007/iStock.)

Here’s to a year of glitter and the worn beauty of wabi sabi.
© Kameleon007/iStock

Cultural Tradition with a Dash of Wabi Sabi

Eat healthier.
Get more exercise.
Lose weight.
Learn a language.
Save more money.
(Make more money!)
Master a new skill.
Read more.
Spend quality time with friends and family.

Sound familiar?

Yes, it’s that time of year again. A transition to a new annual chapter. A time to turn the page. Start fresh. And make a New Year’s resolution or two . . . or three—rising to the challenge of self-improvement and accomplishing new goals.

These days, the percentage of people making New Year’s resolutions seems to be steadily declining. And the percentage of those keeping their resolutions dives even lower.

I admit to being in this latter category. Resolutions made. Resolutions broken (usually by sometime in January).

So why not take a different tack? Why not embrace wabi sabi?

Old brown and tan vase with chips in the lip, showing the Japanese cultural traditions of wabi sabi and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A few chips and nicks give an antiquity character.
© Meredith Mullins

Celebrating Imperfection

Wabi sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that celebrates imperfection. The tradition treasures how we are rather than how we should be. How things are rather than how they might be shaped toward some manufactured ideal.

Kilim with orange thread, showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi, lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © DMT.)

An intentional rogue thread to introduce imperfection
© DMT

Once one accepts wabi sabi, the pressure of achieving perfection is relieved. Understanding wabi sabi is a creative counterbalance to those overachieving resolutions.

Granite rocks with moss, showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi, as nature shows signs of aging. (Image © DMT.)

The beauty of age and wear
© DMT

Lost in Translation

The discussions of wabi sabi often say that to dissect the words is alien to the philosophy. The words cannot be accurately translated.

At the risk of sacrilege, the word wabi loosely translates to “rustic simplicity”—a tendency to be humble by choice and to be in tune with nature.

a pink and yellow flower with bees, showing the Japanese cultural traditions of wabi sabi and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

In tune with nature
© Meredith Mullins

The word sabi loosely translates to “the beauty of age and wear”—an appreciation of changes due to the passage of time.

The most often cited definition comes from author Leonard Koren: the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

Or, stated another way by Richard Powell, “Nothing lasts. Nothing is finished. Nothing is perfect.” Although this sounds a bit depressing, the philosophy is actually liberating, especially when we incorporate wabi sabi into everyday life.

A brick building showing signs of wear proving the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

“Nothing is finished.” The building continues its transition through the ages.
© Meredith Mullins

Wabi Sabi in Everyday Life

Wabi sabi can appear through the natural things we discover—a decaying leaf signifying the coming of winter, a rumpled feather from a free-flying hawk, or a shell shaped by a lifetime of crashing waves.

A dry leaf showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi, lending a theme for New Year's Resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Finding beauty in the everyday discoveries
© Meredith Mullins

We might also experience wabi sabi in the worn items we find at a flea market or in a cluttered attic, in the scars buried in the bark of trees chronicling the natural cycle of growth, or in the visible repairs made to family treasures to lengthen their life.

Tree bark showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi and providing a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Layers of natural history are evident in the bark of a tree.
© Meredith Mullins

The idea of rustic elegance and the beauty of age originally came from the Japanese tea ceremony, where the beauty of the tea bowls was found in their asymmetry, imperfections in the glaze, or in the changing colors of the ceramics over time and with frequent use.

Japanese tea pot showing the cultural traditions of Japan and wabi sabi, to help make simple New Year's resolutions. (Image © RobertLi_SHA/iStock.)

Appreciating the beauty of wabi sabi imperfections, which lend character to the artistry
© RobertLi_SHA/iStock

Appreciating the Cracks

There’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.
—Leonard Cohen

With wabi sabi, we distance ourselves from perfection, symmetry, ideal proportions, mathematical approaches, overconsumption, and luxury.

Instead, we treasure what is fragile and unheroic. The flaws leave room for exploration . . . for growth . . . for artistry. We learn to appreciate what we have rather than yearning for “new” and “more.”

Bearded older man showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi and the beauty of age, lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

We appreciate the lines etched in our elders’ faces, expressing the wisdom and life history that come with growing older. We cherish the dents and stains on a dining room table, all of which have stories to tell.

The Japanese art of Kintsugi appreciates the cracks of time. When well-worn ceramic pieces need repair, the cracks are filled with gold lacquer. The beauty of age is highlighted rather than hidden.

Small tea cup with kintsugi repair., showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi, and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © PhotoBeard/iStock.)

Resolving Imperfection

Given my new “Oh, I See”understanding of the Japanese cultural traditions of wabi sabi, this aesthetic will be a part of my New Year’s resolutions for 2019. I will opt for rustic simplicity and incorporate wabi sabi into my life.

No, this isn’t a way to avoid self-improvement. I still plan to eat healthier, learn a language, lose weight, and save more money.

Snowman in a garden with classical statues and trees, showing the Japanese cultural traditions of wabi sabi and lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

But I also vow to see things differently. I don’t need to buy more things or focus on human imperfections (mine and others’).

I just need to appreciate the imperfections as well as the strengths and open my mind to different kinds of beauty.

Happy New Year to all!

A Navajo ceramic bowl with thumbprint, showing the cultural traditions of Japanese wabi sabi, lending a theme for New Year's resolutions. (Image © DMT.)

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Meredith Mullins 5 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Japan

Comments:

5 thoughts on “What’s in the Art of New Year’s Resolutions?”

Pamela on December 10, 2019 at 2:20 am said:

Perfect timing as we reach the end of one and the beginning of another year! The Japanese culture is awesome. But of course every culture offers us unique ways to enrich our experience and perspectives.
Thank you once again for your brilliant choice of subject, thus enhancing our photography and our lives.
Best,
Pamela
- Meredith Mullins on December 11, 2019 at 10:31 am said:
  
  Hi Pamela,
  Yes, the Japanese culture is always inspiring. Their appreciation of rustic simplicity and beauty (even the imperfections). We can learn so much from exploring other cultures, as I know you know from your worldwide travels.
  
  Thank you for writing and may you have a new year filled with simplicity, beauty, and wabi sabi when appropriate.
  
  All best,
  
  Meredith
Henrietta on January 13, 2019 at 1:42 am said:

Happy Imperfect New Year Meredith 😘.
Rick Chelew on January 7, 2019 at 3:40 pm said:

Yes! A good year to embrace the beauty in the rustic imperfections all around us!
- Meredith Mullins on January 8, 2019 at 11:33 pm said:
  
  Hi Rick,
  I find rustic imperfection very inspiring. Here’s to a year of creativity in all forms.
  
  Happy New Year,
  
  Meredith

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