aha!

the other night,  while stitching my book doiley, i heard a programme about wabi sabi - it's a term i've come across but never really got a clear idea of what it means - i think it gets inappropriately wafted around sometimes by people who like the sound of it

anyway ... the programme was a revelation .... it seems that wabi sabi-ness has been very much a part of my life and approach for longer than i can remember - now i have an "underpinning aesthetic" for my aversion to symmetry and perfect neatness in my work and life ... haha!! how nice to have a recognised label to herd all my odd little habits into - it seems that wabi sabi is the complete antithesis of mass produced regularity, i can definitely live with that

an excerpt from Wikipedia: Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance. It can also refer to quirks and anomalies arising from the process of construction, which add uniqueness and elegance to the object. Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.

it feels sort of cozy to identify with something

while still retaining a sense of individuality