I've been exploring and proding around living my life and creating my business with more simplicity and meaning over the last year and in my current pinterest inspiration finding obsession I came across the term I'd heard a few times before in the last few years. Wabi-Sabi.
I recognised is as an idea that encompasses a lot of what I think my heart wants to learn and put in to practise.
Wabi-Sabi is the Japanese concept of beauty, which historically related to concepts around desolation or loneliness, but has has come to mean an embracing the imperfect or transient, letting go of perfectionism and enjoying the simplicity and integrity of things and moments. Wabi-Sabi acknowledges 3 basic principles: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect'.
It speaks to me of something that exudes natural simplicity, is beautiful in it's flaws, graceful in it's changes and decay and peaceful in it's solitude.
It is one thing that has has helped my resolve in my quest this year to find and create simplicity in my life. in the meantime I'll trust that everything will become clear.
As I was in the midst of this resolution strengthen moment I got to thinking about ways that I have been embracing the imperfect this year, and I remembered a specific time recently when I created imperfectly, enjoying and allowing the moment to become an important memory, allowing what we created to be and quietly go on our way.
It was October and my niece had come back to visit from Australia, she was here to spend time with family, to create more memories, more connections, more layers.
She wanted to create a dream-catcher in the woods. Brilliant I thought...not knowing exactly how to make one but, instead of googling it, I was willing to give it a whirl, to use my intuition and my previous learning and making knowledge. No certainty of a positive outcome.
We set off.
It was a beautiful evening, and after some pretty exciting pine cone fights we got to playing with the materials and creating the dream-catcher together.
My brother had gathered lengths of hazel and we got busy joining them together into a large rough circle, big enough to easily suspend between the trees.
Once we had what turned into a slightly wonky circle we begun with a MASSIVE ball of jute rope, to loop around and around the hazel hoop.
My niece had made a dream catcher once before in school and had almost forgotten how to make one.
It's funny how things come back to us though, just in time.
I think often times our memories return when you feel yourself in motion again. Those same motions as when you first learnt the lesson, showing us the way. Reminding us that it's ok, we have been here before and made it through and we can do this too. I find this especially true with tactile activities like making, but maybe that's because I'm a visual/kinaesthetic learner.
So, we looped and looped under, over, down, one loop to the next, centring and pulling carefully and gently to create the web.
After much loopy looping with big ball of rope, we cut a shorter piece once we got to the middle, making it easier to handle through the smaller and smaller holes.
Finally we were got to the centre. Tucking and gently knotting it there so we could add something later.
And it looked amazing, almost heart shaped!
It hung like a loving web of dreams, promising to protect us from bad and letting the good dreams through.
We returned the following weekend. It remained there waiting, perfectly imperfect.
During the week we had been for walks the woods and walks on the beach. We had collected small objects which we admired. We each added our charms to the spindles and spokes, talismans building on our own personal meaning and story of our creation and time together. It was satisfying and light and we created something beautiful with our own '6' hands.
Maybe the spiders will make their home there, maybe the wind will blow it, maybe the birds with find a perch, maybe it will catch some snow in the winter and make wonderful patterns with ice. Who knows.
For now, we have left it behind for nature to do what it wants with it.
I'd love to know if you have EVER created something outdoors or something transitory, with simple materials and tools. Tell me all about what you learnt and what meaning did the object or the activity did it hold for you?
I'd love to hear from you or have an extra follower over on my facebook page too.
With warmth and wonder
Jaimie xx