Wabi Sabi...Gestalt Gardener Word of the Week

CLICK GREEN WORDS WABI SABI IN TOP GREEN TITLE ABOVE TO GO TO THIS SITE " Word of the Week: Wabi Sabi" Susan O'Neal of Greenville passed along this week’s Gestalt phrase, which represents the conflict of joy at the sight of beauty coupled with the knowledge of its fleeting nature. Wabi sabi is the acceptance of the state of ongoing transience – it nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging the reality of how nothing is perfect, and nothing lasts. If an object or expression can create within us a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi. As Susan put it, “Behind the awe of flowering trees in full and radiant bloom is the realization, even at a subconscious level, that their petals’ falling and decay are just around the corner. The message is clear: Savor every morsel. Don't squander your life. Don't give up on your dreams. Don't take anyone or anything for granted, especially time. Appreciate physical beauty but realize it is superficial and fades; symbolic beauty persists in the mind, in the heart and through time, as sure as spring will follow winter.” In the garden, wabi sabi can be interpreted and celebrated by placing an old tool out in the weather, or leaving a stump from a fallen tree.