writing 2.18.09

Wabi-Sabi.
It represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience. The phrase comes from two words: wabi and sabi.

The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. It nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities:
Nothing lasts.
Nothing is finished.
Nothing is perfect.
Wabi-Sabi improves with age and wear. Like modernism, it loves simplicity and functionality. Unlike modernism's geometric boxes it is round and open like a bowl.

I found this via my friend Luke's tumblr, and I think that if the Wabi-Sabi mentality was accepted by more creatives, we'd all be much happier with the agency process.

In fact, Wabi-Sabi should be our mantra.
Wabi-Sabi is our happy place when the "perfect" spot gets killed, or they want a bigger logo or a more "retail-shaped" message.

Wabi-Sabi.
Say it with me:
Nothing lasts.
Nothing is perfect.
Nothing is finished.

Wabi-Sabi.
Its just (gasp)advertising.

So account people, if you hear me saying Wabi-Sabi under my breath when you come by, I'm not cursing at you in Japanese, I'm just burrowing into my happy place as you kill/molest my baby, because: nothing lasts, nothing is perfect and nothing is finished - and that's okay.