ClaireWabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.
There was this time when my family went shopping at the outlet malls. I was somewhere in that high school age. As we were walking down the sidewalk, I was reading the signs for the stores in front of us hanging overhead. I shouted out to my family, overwhelmed with excitement, “Old Everything!!” My pace quickened as I thought I had found the outlet mecca. Then I realized a second sign was slightly covering the “Old Everything” sign . . . just enough to hide the “H”. Hold Everything. . . . well that makes more sense . . . some fancy organizing store. I mean, why would there be an outlet store for everything old? Outlet stores are clearly more geared to selling all things new. Goes to show that my love for the vintaged, antiqued, weathered, used and loved has been part of me for longer than I probably ever realized.
Thankfully there are few pictures of my middle school fashions. 
I wore dresses from the 40s that my grandmother inherited from her friend, Jean. If I was in the mood for jewelry, it was likely costume jewelry from Jean’s jewelry box. In fact, I even wore her shoes. I loved the look of another era. More than that, I probably loved standing out by wearing something other than Guess jeans, which I didn’t own. But I also loved thinking about the places these things had been . . . the dance where a young Jean was twirled around the dance floor by a young Henry whom she later married, the bracelet she may have received as a birthday gift or the day she spent shopping up town in the shoes that gave her a blister. Every piece had a story, whether true or imagined, that I became part of.
The stories from the past left the impression, created the patina, that may at first appear as imperfections but it’s within that imperfection that you find the beauty and love. When I am in my house I see the physical manifestations of all things wabi sabi. I walk on uneven wood floors laid in 1947. I stare at slight cracks in the ceiling in walls from years of the house settling in to being a home, a home now filled with those things passed down generation to generation reminding me of the love of family members that have come before. It is in this appreciation of the physical manifestation of wabi sabi that I feel that I am learning to embrace the non-physical acceptance of wabi sabi as a way of being.
Let’s just be real . . . we are bombarded daily with images of perfection and expectations of perfection. But perfection is not sustainable way of being, and, when it becomes the focus, we so often overlook the beauty and joy around us. 
Don’t get me wrong, my wabi sabi interpretation is not just to remember to stop and smell the roses, although they do smell nice. And it’s not just to keep on the sunny side, although I do believe in embracing positivity. To me, a wabi sabi way of being is to embrace the imperfection, feel its impression, acknowledge its transient nature and focus on the beautiful patina it can create in you.
That’s deep . . . and that’s a tall order for a sailboat. Let her name will be a constant reminder of the wabi sabi within us and the joy within our imperfect souls.
Until next time, see the beauty.
