Feed Your Curiosity: "Wabi Sabi" by Nobuo Suzuki

In a recent interview with Elizabeth Blake-Thomas on Getting Work To Work, she mentioned a book she had just finished reading about the Japanese Zen philosophy of wabi-sabi: Wabi Sabi: The Wisdom in Imperfection by Nobuo Suzuki. I'm a pretty uptight guy and strive to make my work perfect, so when someone recommends a book about embracing imperfection and impermanence, I add it to my list: the "one-day" list. Well, that day showed up faster than expected.

Last weekend, I was wandering Powell's Books in Beaverton, OR, looking for a book to add to my collection. There were some books that I was curious about, and as I looked for them, sitting there on an end cap was Wabi Sabi.

Was it a sign? I picked up the book, sat down on a bench, and started reading the forward by Héctor García:

"Western thought, and more specifically, modernity, pushes all of us to think that there is an ultimate perfect goal in all things we do that will lead to success and happiness."

Okay, this is good; really good.

"...perfection does not even exist to begin with; it is only in the realm of our human imagination (and mathematics, maybe)."

Two pages into the forward, I was hooked. I had to buy the book. But I had a problem.

Usually, when I buy a new hardcover book with a dust jacket, I look for the most pristine copy, and this copy of Wabi Sabi had some visible flaws. Sure, I could have wandered the store, looked on the computer for its location, or waited until I got home and ordered it online, gambling that the shipped version would be less damaged in transit than this copy.

There was a lesson I needed to learn in this moment.

If I reject this book for its imperfections—a book about the freakin' "wisdom in imperfection"—then why bother challenging myself in accepting my own imperfections?

I'm reading and reflecting on each chapter—so I haven't made it very far into the book—because the wisdom is rich and deep:

"Anyone who believes they have achieved excellence is both wrong—there is always room for improvement—and lacking in flexibility."

I'm curious, open, and ready to grow. I hope this inspires you to explore this small book of endless curiosity.

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Newsletter Notes:

• Today's sonic soundtrack: CLOSURE/CONTINUATION by Porcupine Tree.

• I set the "Feed Your Curiosity" type in Boris Bold, a delicious font by Deadbolt Design.