WABI-SABI

ABANDONING “PERFECT”
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project report title"
WABI-SABI (abandoning perfect)" Term2
English core is a bona fied work carried out by
roll no. of Ryan International School,
Sector-25, Rohini, for the fulfilment of ASL.

TEACHER'S SIGNATURE
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
At the completion of my project on the topic "WABI-SABI", I would
like to take the opportunity to thank all those who have extended
their support in the smooth and successful completion of the same.
I express a deep sense of gratitude to Ms. Ruchi Sisodia for
entrusting me with the responsibility of the project. She helped me
understand the intricate issues involved in the planning and
execution besides preparing effective presentation. I am thankful
to my family and friends for the constant motivation to conplete
the project by providing conducuve environment. I cannot thank
the participants/interviewees enough for their honest and valuable
input without which my project would have not materialised.
 SNO. TOPIC PAGE NO.

1 INTRODUCTION

INDEX
2 GOAL OF THE PROJECT

3 OBJECTIVES

4 APPROACH

5 INTERVIEW

 SNO. TOPIC PAGE NO.

6 SURVEY

INDEX
7 ANALYSIS

8 REPORT

9 REFLECTION

10 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 INTRODUCTION
WABI-SABI IS A JAPANESE PHILOSOPHY WHICH CELEBRATES
BEAUTY IN WHAT’S NATURAL, FLAWS AND ALL.
A WABI SABI APPROACH TO LIFE ISN’T ABOUT GIVING WAY TO
CARELESSNESS OR SEEKING JUNK PILE THROUGH ROSE-COLORED
GLASSES. IT’S ABOUT APPRECIATING, SHOWCASING AND
SUSTAINING THE BEAUTY OF WHAT’S NATURAL .
GAINING A PERSPECTIVE OF REALISATION THAT NOTHING ABOUT
NATURE OR HUMANS IS LINEAR OR SYMMETRICAL OR IMPERVIOUS
TO DECAY. AND YET WHAT COULD BE MORE MESMERIZING?
 GOAL
OF
THE
PROJECT
-UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT
OF WABI SABI AND PRACTICING IT
TO CHANGE PERSPECTIVES ON
TODAY’S WORLD ISSUES
REGARDING THE NORMS,
STEREOTYPES AND STANDARDS
OF BEAUTY
OBJECTIVES
AWARENESS ABOUT THE AESTHETICS OF THE THINGS IN
EXISTENCE

DISCOVERY EVEN FIXED OBJECTS ARE SUBJECT TO

CHANGE AND TAINT.

EVALUATION ISSUES REGARDING THE NORMS,

STEREOTYPES AND STANDARDS OF BEAUTY.

INTENT TO CONVEY THAT OUT OF ACCEPTANCE ONE FINDS

GROWTH.

EMBRACE
APPRECIATING ONE’S AUTHENTICITY
ESPECIALLY THAT LIES WITHIN US.
APPROACH
THE METHODS INCULCATED TO DIVE DEEPER INTO
THE PROJECT IDEOLOGY:

-INTERVIEW
-RESEARCH
-SURVEYS
-PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
 THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION HAS
BECOME THE NORM IN TODAY’S
WORLD, WHERE CHRONIC
DISSATISFACTION, BURNOUT,
DEPRESSION, AND ANXIETY REIGN
SUPREME. WE’VE SUBJECTED
OURSELVES TO UNREALISTIC
STANDARDS AND RIGOROUSLY CHASE
AN IDEAL THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO
REACH.
ADVERTISEMENTS SHOW US SNAPSHOTS OF
HANDSOME PEOPLE ENJOYING THEIR
FAVOURITE DRINK DANCING AMONG A
CROWD OF FASHION MODELS WITH EVER-
SMILING FACES. THIS UNCOMPROMISING
IMAGE OF PERFECT HAPPINESS YELLS AT US:
“THIS IS HOW YOUR LIFE SHOULD BE.” AND
SO, WE TRY TO MIMIC THE SUBLIMITY OF A
LIFESTYLE IDEAL.
 WE SPEND FORTUNES ON TWEAKING OURSELVES,
OUR LIVES, OUR ENVIRONMENT AND THEN FLOOD
SOCIAL MEDIA WITH PICTURES AND VIDEOS TO
SHOW THE WORLD THE EXQUISITENESS OF OUR
LIVES. PERFECTION IS WHAT WE NEED TO
ACCOMPLISH: A PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL FACE, A
PERFECTLY SCULPTED BODY, PERFECT HAIR, SKIN,
JAWLINE, HOUSE, FRIENDS, FAMILY, PARTNER,
CHILDREN, VACATIONS, OR IN SHORT: AN
EXISTENCE WITHOUT FAULT. BUT THIS ISN’T ONLY
IMPOSSIBLE AND EXHAUSTING TO PURSUE; IT’S
ALSO UNNATURAL AS FAR AS THE JAPANESE WORLD
VIEW OF WABI-SABI IS CONCERNED.
WABI-SABI REJECTS THE PURSUIT OF
PERFECTION AND EMBRACES THE
REALITY OF IMPERFECTION. THE
PHILOSOPHY BEHIND WABI-SABI
CAN HELP US ESCAPE THE HAMSTER
WHEEL OF CHASING AN IDEAL LIFE
AND TEACHES US TO APPRECIATE
EXISTENCE AS IT IS: PERFECTLY
IMPERFECT.
INTERVIEW
 WABI-SABI
QUESTIONNAIRE
INTERVIEW

QUESTION 1 QUESTION 3
What according to you is the what is more important inner
actual meaning of beauty? beauty or outer beauty and why
do you think so?

QUESTION 2
Do you think you are beautiful?
What makes a person beautiful?
QUESTION 4
How do you think educational
institutions play a role in shaping a
child's concept of beauty and what
is your view on that?
QUESTION 5
How do you think social media play
a role in increasing non-
acceptance in teens?
QUESTION 6
Do you think today's generation
has a different perspective about
beauty?What's your perspective
about the same?
QUESTION 7
Have you ever heard remarks
about behaving according to one's
gender? what's your point of view
on this?
QUESTION 8
Being a guy/girl what has been
your experience with insecurities
and gender stereotypes?
QUESTION 9
How do you think advertisements
and films impact the youth? any
personal experience that you
would like to share?
QUESTION 10
How important do you think it is for
a person to accept him/her and
how do you think body positivity
can be promoted?
 RESPONSES
1. Any quality of a person, be it tangible or intangible, that pleases you is the definition of beauty
according to me.
2. To be honest, there are days when I think I am beautiful and there are also some days when I
get highly insecure.
Kindness, a good heart and a strong mind definitely make a person beautiful.
3. Definitely inner beauty because outer beauty is perishable.
4. Educational institutions play an important role in a child's initial understanding of the
concept of beauty. A child is likely to believe whatever he/she is taught at the school for a
lifetime. It becomes difficult to change their perception if wrong foundations are built.
5. Teens have started to believe that they are not beautiful because they compare themselves to
a certain person on social media that looked beautiful to them. They don't realise the fact that
social media is not real. It promotes unattainable standards of beauty and this is increasing non-
acceptance is teens because they find it difficult to accept that they are beautiful just they way
are.

 6. I think today's generation is moving towards a body positive world but the reality is
that people still fall for looks because it's something that meets the eye first.
7. Yes I definitely. There have been incidents when I have been told don't speak like that
or don't sit like that just because I am a girl.
My point of view is that no one should be supposed to behave according to gender.
Moreover, almost everything is gender neutral in today's world.
8. As a girl I have always been insecure about my facial and body hair. It's high time that
we need to normalise it for girls.
9. Advertisements and films kind of promote the notion that outer beauty is more
important than inner beauty. People who look a certain way are only seen on-screen.
This is changing slowly but there's still a long way to go.
10. It is of utmost importance for a person to accept him/her. Acceptance changes a
person and makes him/her confident and beautiful.
Body positivity can be promoted by setting examples, by normalising all bodies and
colours, by believing in the notion that inner beauty is more important than outer
beauty.
SURVEY
 ANALYSIS
Our questionnaire was answered by 40 people of different age group (13-30+).
40% of them were male and the rest comprised of the females.
1. Do you think you are good looking?
45% of the people are confident about their looks while the same amount of people are also confused
about their looks. We can also see that 10% of people thunk that they are not good looking.
2. Have you heard about the concept of wabi-sabi?
The concept of wabi-sabi is rare and only 40% of people know about it.
3. Have you heard of the term body posivity?
Everyone that answered the questionnaire is aware about the term body positivity.
4. Have you ever felt insecure about the way you look?
60% of the people are insecure about their looks while 22.5% of the people aren’t sure if they’re really
insecure about them or not.
5. Has someone or something ever made you feel imperfect or not enough?
Around 60% people have felt imperfect because of someone or something. 20% of them say that they
might have felt that way while the rest haven’t felt imperfect at all.
 6. Have you ever been told to behave according to your gender? (eg- sit like a girl, man it up)
Majority of people i.e 77.5% people have experienced such instances of being forced to act in
accordance to their gender. though only 20% of people have not experienced such issues which is
quite positive.
7. Do you think acceptance make you feel beautiful.
It seems that people have a divided opinion on the following, as we refer 55% people agree to it while
15-45% feel the latter

8. Have you ever compared yourself to anyone else on social media?

it is a positive response to see that a good 30% of people haven’t quite succumbed to comparison
online but majorly as we see 55% have faced the issue of such toxic habit.
9. Has anyone in your family ever made you feel insecure about your body?
We observe that majority people haven’t experienced such an instance which is good and defines
how families are non judgemental but there still are some disparities of 32.5% and 12.5% facing such
issue
10. Do you think gender stereotypes exist today?
it can be conferred that gender stereotypes are still prevalent in today’s world
 11. Do you think advertisements and films have a certain impact on the teenagers in terms of
beauty norms?
the statistics strongly agree to the toxicity media has spread amongst youngsters as 87.5% people
have faced negative impacts of the following
12. Do you think beauty standards showcased on media platforms are real and achievable ?
An obvious majority response is in regards with how media platforms showcase unrealistic beauty
standards

13. What does out a beauty matter the most to you?

Quite a delight to see that majority of the people surveyed are not binded by the worldly concept
of outer beauty and agree to it being overrated.
14. Do you feel inferior (based on how you look).
Sadly a good amount of 62.5% individuals have felt inferior in some way or the other on the basis of
their looks
15. Do you believe that out a body changes with time but hot is water remains beautiful forever?
We see that 80% of people agree with this beautiful mindset of inner beauty whereas a minimum
percentile of 17.5% are unsure of it
 REPORT
Amidst a world that is riddled with high-stress levels, fast-paced living, and a detrimental obsession with materialistic
wealth, there is a Japanese way of life that could be just what we need right now to save us from reaching our final
destination.
As a philosophy, Wabi-Sabi refers to a more connected way of living-a way of living which is deeply connected to nature,
and thus, closer to one's truest self.
It is a way of recognizing that all things, including ourselves and life itself, are impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect,
and that finding beauty in its imperfection is a lifelong pursuit. It inspires us to continuously seek the beauty in
imperfection and accept the more natural cycle of life. Taken individually, wabi and sabi are two separate concepts:
Wabi is about recognizing the beauty in the simplest of things. It invites us to detach from the vanity of materialism to
experience spiritual richness instead.
Sabi contemplates the passage of time, how things grow, age, and decay, and how this manifests itself beautifully
through objects. It suggests that the beauty lies below what we might initially see, even in what we think is broken.
Combined, these two principles create a philosophy for approaching life: Accept what is, stay in the moment, and
appreciate the simple, transient stages of life.
 This age-old philosophy has a wealth of wisdom woven into its very fabric. I am fascinated by the
principles of wabi-sabi because it has helped me cultivate more poise and grace in my life.
There are five of these Wabi-sabi teachings that can better help you to fully step away from the modern-
day struggles of moving fast, striving for perfection, and chasing inorganic forms of success:
1. Through acceptance, you find freedom; out of acceptance, you find growth.
Once you begin to yield and surrender to the imperfect flow of life, you will discover peace and freedom,
and you will step onto the path of growth.
2. All things in life, including you, are in an imperfect state of flux, so strive not for perfection, but for
excellence instead.
Wabi-sabi philosophy teaches that all things are impermanent, incomplete, and imperfect, including
ourselves and life itself. The problem, however, is that our flawed ways of thinking have blurred our
understanding of what perfection really is. Perfection does not exist because imperfection is the natural
state of life—you are whole, the entirety of you, as you are.Imperfection is not a compromise;
imperfection is the only way because imperfection is the true nature of things. All things in life, including
you, are in an imperfect state of flux. Change is the only constant. Everything is transient and nothing is
ever complete. And that’s why perfection doesn’t exist.

3. Appreciate the beauty of all things, especially the great beauty that hides beneath the surface of what seems to
be broken.
An ancient form of art stems from wabi-sabi, whereby you mend broken objects with gold fillings, giving them
“golden scars.” It’s known as Kintsugi. Kintsugi reminds us that there is great beauty in broken things because
scars tell a story. They demonstrate fortitude, wisdom, and resilience, earned through the passage of time.
4. Slow and simple, is the only way, to feel the joy of what it means to be alive.
Slow down and simplify your life. Otherwise, you’ll rush through it, arrive at the end and wonder, “what was the
point?” This teaching is quite simple, but its immediate and long-term implications are profound. Slowing down
is the antidote to living in a rhythm of rush and simplifying your life is the antidote to living a complex one. Slow
and simple is the only way to feel the joy of what it means to be alive because only by doing so will you allow
yourself to become more present and in tune with the world around you. Beauty is found in everything that is
alive. 5. To be content exactly where you are with all that you already have, is to be happy.
To be content with the emotion of anger just as how you are usually content with the emotion of excitement. To
be content with the state of sadness just as how you are incredibly content with the state of happiness. the root
of all unhappiness is born from being discontent with where you are and what you have. To be content with what
you have and where you are is to be grateful. To be content with what you have and where you are, while
working toward what you want, and fully trusting that you can achieve it, is to be intentional. And through
gratitude, intention, and action, you find happiness.

REFLECTION
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. https://www.omaritani.com/blog/wabi-sabi-
philosophy-teachings
2. https://oishya.com/journal/wabi-sabi-how-to-
embrace-this-ancient-japanese-philosophy-at-
home-and-life/
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=M759yNSOTMs