Wabi-Sabi

Ever been to a friend’s house where they’ve just done up the decor - it’s cohesive, it’s chic, modern, clean, you love it. And then you visit a few month’s later - and the decor’s still the same, but you can tell life has happened. The white is a little scuffed, the plastic is ripped, the lighting throws chipped edges into sharp relief. You can still see what it was supposed to be, and the feeling it was supposed to invoke, but it doesn’t do that anymore - it’s disconcerting. It feels old and new at the same time, more tacky than chic.

You see this with a lot of the new trends in design. The modern all-white home decor trend is a great example. Beautiful in photos, but destroyed in 6 months of practical home life. In home decor, the cookie cutter style is a safe bet, and the pictures look great - initially. But it doesn’t last, and it has no soul. Instead, choose a style that might be bold and is uniquely you, that reflects who you are. Maybe this is not something everyone would praise, or maybe this isn’t cool; but it IS completely, unashamedly, you. A style that makes YOU happy. A style that grows with you, changes as you change. A style where it’s imperfections are either fixed, or polished and becomes a part of it’s charm. Just like you, as you grow, change and work on your imperfections over time.

I truly belive THIS is what aging gracefully means. The patina that time adds to both you as a person, and your life. This is how I want to build my life. Time and age adding and polishing the content of my life - faith, family, love, community. Not the things you do for appearances (mimetic desire?) - the annual vacation because everybody else does it, the latest car not because you enjoy it’s engineered beauty but because what will people think if you drive that cheap hyundai. Constant reminder that I must guard against this - this will drain my soul - cheap plastic decor for a cheap plastic life and leave me with nothing of value over time. Better the burnished patina of a life well lived and loved than that final estate sale of trinkets that nobody wants when my life is done.