Wabi-Sabi
We’re all works of art
so they say
with all our imperfections
on full display.
So why do the sanctimonious
always complain
tell us how to look and live
from their distorted
perspectives and rules?
Ignore them!
You are perfect as you are
even when others naysay;
sanctimony, their only
defence …
“It’s not natural”
“It just isn’t right”
“That’s not how I was brought up”
“There should be a law…”
“That looks stupid
don’t they know any better?”
And on and on…
Hard to keep an open mind
with that noise in your ear
from morning till night
in your news feeds
and social networks;
and worst of all, from
cherished family and friends.
As J. Morrison put it,
“This is the end,
my only friend, the end.”
And, “No one gets out alive.”
–LE – 11/3/25
PS: Wabi-sabi: imperfection in art, a Japanese aesthetic…
CynOp 
4 responses to “Wabi-Sabi”
My parents taught me not to judge people, by their looks or anything else. They said what mattered is if they are good people or not. I try to walk their walk, but sometimes stumble.
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We all stumble from time to time. Growth happens when we catch ourselves, see the ‘stumble’ for what it is, and go about correcting it. I agree with your parents. My upbringing was similar. Even so, I learned to tell the difference between sincere guidance and ‘platitudes’ early on … and am still working on removing any traces of sanctimony still left from my youth and past indoctrinations… Trying again and again, catching ourselves and trying again, that’s all we can do…; -)
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I think if a person is half-ass wise, they are aware that we learn and grow our entire life. My dad told me once, when he was around 90, that the older he got, the more he realized how little he knew. He was wise, understanding, and forgiving, but he told me stories of his younger days that let me know he grew into the man who raised me. My mom wasn’t as outgoing as my dad, had an extremely hard life growing up, and told me some of it when I was an adult. I think her early life shaped the wonderful mother she became.
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Think I reached the height of my hubris in my early 40s… Since then, I’ve been humbled by how much I don’t and probably can’t ever know… If I make it to my 90s (which doesn’t seem probable under current events and living conditions), I’ll probably feel like a ‘drooling idiot’… Sometimes I feel like that already…; -)~
It sounds like you’ve had wonderful nurturing throughout your life … Unfortunately, mine wasn’t very ‘wonderful’… I envy you…; -)
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