Scars
Embracing life’s anomalies
傷
Kizu
My Japanese cultural upbringing instilled in me the wabi-sabi worldview. This ancient philosophical life approach is rooted in Zen Buddhism that honors all things—living and non-living—and embraces life's constant state of flux as an old friend. Quite radical to the western preference to utilize efficiency, convenience, and the latest technology to help optimize our perfect self, wabi-sabi embraces the imperfect, the scars that memorialize our trials and triumphs. A broken beloved ceramic bowl need not be thrown out; instead, we mend it and honor its cracks. The wabi-sabi attitude also looks to nature for inspiration—a healthy ecological system relies on diversity and balance; the system greatly suffers if any one species becomes dominant.
I am a wabi-sabi warrior.
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I was barely five when my kindergarten chin collided with a swing. I have no recollection of the incident, but the blood on my mother’s dress. I do remember the fear that resulted in fighting between my parents. I was thankfully ok, but I was changed. Five stitches on my chin. Will it leave a scar? A physical reminder of how close I came to serious injury and a reminder of how lucky I am. But the “what if” still shudders my mom. My mother carries another guilt with her.
Since the onset of puberty, my sister’s life collided with alopecia areata, a mysterious immune-mediated disease causing the destruction of her hair follicles. We both have scars. Mine is barely visible on my face; my sister’s is masked, hidden by a custom-made wig. As a family, our acceptance of our respective scars remain very different. Subsequently, how we each individually face life’s authenticity is also very altered, challenging our honest familial interaction with each other.
“We are born of light. The seasons are felt through light. We only know the world as it is evoked by light”. - Louis Kahn
It is purported that at the age of three, still part of Russia, Louis Kahn saw coals in the stove and was captivated by their smoldering light. Wanting it, he placed the coal in his apron, which ignited and burned his lower face area. Kahn carried these scars for the rest of his life. He rarely spoke of the accident or his consequent visible injury. Kahn’s hasasia, or sensitivity, most likely started at an early age. It is understandable that the self-effacing nature of his buildings becomes an extension of his egoless, self-conscious outlook of life.
Becoming a wabi-sabi warrior. Japanese philosophy for a perfectly imperfect life, wabi-sabi accepts life’s realities and anomalies. Being mindful of aesthetics and the pristine, the appreciation of the authentic rather than the perfect is our sentient way to make life decisions, to navigate through environments and to experience one another with beauty and grace.
