The Key Unlocks: Wabi Sabi
by Della Watson
Welcome to the first edition of a recurring Key Blog column from Della Watson, the founder of DKW Productions. In "The Key Unlocks" series, Della will share surprises, secrets, and lessons learned. We hope you'll enjoy a look behind the scenes as the DKW Productions community grows.
We're doing it. We're creating something beautiful together.
In the past two months, I've had the joy of experiencing five DKW Productions events in two different cities, on two opposite coasts. Every single event has been unique -- and there have been plenty of happy surprises.
Along the way, I've enjoyed a roller coaster of emotions. Behind the scenes, I've stressed out over both major and minor details; I have struggled with frustration when tools I thought I needed to have to get the job done were unavailable to me; and I've pivoted so many times it has felt like a wild dance.
As an event planner, I want to produce happenings that seem perfect to the guests. I want the mood to be just so, I want to evoke positive emotions, I want people to leave with the feeling that they have just experienced something transformative. In my other careers as a journalist and poet, I always strive to find the perfect word, to produce work that won't make me cringe in five years. But is any perfect art form ever really perfect? No, and here's why we wouldn't want perfection.
It's called wabi-sabi.
Here's my imperfect definition of this complex (and simple) philosophical idea. "Wabi-sabi" is a Japanese aesthetic term that is associated with the traditional tea ceremony, aligned with natural processes, and is influenced by Shinto and Zen Buddhist ideas. Wabi-sabi is sometimes described as a feeling that defies definition. You know it when you see it.
In the introduction to his book Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, Leonard Koren offers these lines:
Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.
It is a beauty of things modest and humble.
It is a beauty of things unconventional.
The book then goes on to explore "the wabi-sabi universe" from a variety of different angles -- the metaphysical, the spiritual, the psychological, the moral, and the material. It's a lovely journey and it provides the reader with a feeling of what wabi-sabi might be, if not a precise and easy definition. You know it when you find it.
My personal (and highly imperfect) version of wabi-sabi involves accepting mistakes and reframing them as elements that add character and personality to a work of art. It is the beauty of cracks and chips. It is why we look at a weathered old building and say that it has a lovely patina. By including wabi-sabi in my art practice, I can be infinitely more accepting and flexible.
In business terms, it might be translated into seeing the opportunity in every crisis. In self-help circles, it could mean adopting an abundance mindset. When it comes to meeting deadlines, it reminds us that done is better than perfect. And in the natural world, where wabi-sabi most loves to dwell, it means seeing the beauty of the cycle of life, loving the bright blooms of spring but finding an even deeper respect for a withered old tree holding onto the one last brown leaf, quivering in the cold winter wind.
Words used to describe wabi-sabi are "irregular," "simple," and "earthy." Koren says that one of the "spiritual values" of wabi-sabi is that "beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness."
Does that sound like a DKW Production? Not exactly. My brand is more glittery, loud, bouyant, and complex. I would describe myself as a maximalist, whereas the traditional Japanese tea ceremony is a study in minimalism. But am I a believer in the wabi-sabi way? Absolutely.
The primary goals of DKW Productions are to create more opportunities for connection and joy. These are things that occur naturally, they are necessary components of the human experience. And we all know that being a human is messy. We know that we will all share the pleasures and pains of growing up and growing old. We will all experience sadness, and even in the toughest of times, we will rely upon our communities for support, and we will seek the small moments of beauty that are always present in the world, no matter what else is happening in our lives.
Wabi-sabi means come as you are. Bring your whole, true, gorgeously weathered self to a DKW Productions event. Arrive with an open mind and a vulnerable heart. Trust us to embrace your perfect imperfections to celebrate your unique beauty. Together we'll make a totally original, artful experience.
What is wabi-sabi? You'll know it when you create it.