Download Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom For A Perfectly Imperfect Life Developed By Beth Kempton Released As Hardcover

lovely book was hard to put down, II was a well written, really enjoyable book, Having lived many years in Japan and fluent in Japanese, the author has a through knowledge of wabi sabi, In wabi sabi you find the beauty in the perfectly, imperfect, You slow down, simplify and savor the memory making beauty of special momentsYou realize there is a season for everything.
For example, what lives must one day die, Only human, you are gentle on yourself when you fail, Read the book to find out, This is a beautiful book, It makes you embrace and see the importance of imperfection in our often busy and stressful lives, Imperfection often something we see as a negative and want to overcome, the Author enables you to appreciate it and to understand that it helps you to achieve a balance in your life when you shift your perspective towards it.
Thus, allowing us everyday humans to revel in a deeper gratitude of the brief snapshot moments of beauty and perfection,

The book transported me back to places from my past, to moments when I had been utterly content, It also made me hopeful of the future which a positive and accepting mindset and a slightly altered perspective in embracing the bad with the good,

This may appear to be a 'feminine' book, but that barrier can be removed as I am a youngyr old male and have recommended this to a number of my male friends of the same age even purchasing it as a present for my best friend to bring him some solace.


We often live in our own 'bubble' of reality, Having travelled and experienced other cultures but not Japans' it really helps you develop a sense of i acceptance, ii gratitude and iii perspective, The Author superbly achieves this with her personal stories from her time in Japan across the years,

I wouldn't be surprised if many readers are now itching to visit Japan and I say GO! You only live this fantastic, crazy and unique life once.
Take the jump!

Thanks Beth for a wonderful book it also looks 'wabi sabi' crafted in any home on a shelf or bookcase, Loved this fantastic book starting with the beautiful cover and then turning the luxurious thick paper pages, I read a little bit each morning while having my coffee, Sometimes only reading a couple pages to enjoy it,
The short vignettes throughout the book conjured up magical images, smells, tastes, and,
Lots of helpful practical advice too,

I'm half way through and I'm giving up, I found this both heavy and superficial, I was expecting a masterpiece given the reviews, but the style is patronising and over simplistic the kind you'd find in a woman's magazine, It's also rather boring, since the author takes several pages to tell you how delightful her tea sipping in Japan was, Not sure you would be happy to spend so much time on this 'autobiography', No photos/pretty images either, The book really is beautiful and makes a great gift I ordered a few extra copies to gift to friends Most importantly it is a truly pleasurable read, Beth takes you on parts of her own fascinating journey with Japan as she shares the true wisdom of Wabi Sabi, As with Beth's other wonderful book Freedom Seeker I needed a notepad nearby to write down all of the inspiring but thankfully practical advice for living a perfectly imperfect life! Enjoyed the Japanese sensibilities and references Did not find the concepts enlightening.
Seemed like simplified versions of basic Buddhist ideas, I absolutely loved this book!! Wabi Sabi is something I intrinsically understood in my soul, without knowing a word for it, I found it enlightening and calming, Its beautifully written with knowledge, insight and true respect for the amazing culture, The perfect size to just pop in your bag and is just a think of beauty for your shelf too!! Ive ordered several copies to gift to friends who I know will really love and benefit from owning this book.
I cant recomend it enough for you and then as a gift for a friend, Wabi sabi is a philisophy that Beth Kempton describes as Japanese wisdom to live a perfectly imperfect life, This is done by embracing simplicity, nature and the fleetingness of life, Beths book is beautifully written, inspiring and quietly transformative,

Theres a big section on the ancient ceremony of drinking tea in Japan and its relationship with wabi sabi, This stripped back and slow ritual of tea drinking allows people to take the time to connect in a serene environment, The simplicity, grace and soulfulness of this ceremony is at the heart of what wabi sabi is about,

Beth talks of how the Japanese prioritise spending time in nature and that forest bathing is a big thing in the country, Not literal bathing, but hanging out in a forest and bathing in its beauty and peacefulness, This represents another aspect of wabi sabi the importance of spending time in nature which has also been scientifically proven to be very good for health and wellbeing,

Beth frequently mentions the ageing process and the value that wabi sabi places on the beauty of the old and weathered, As she rightly points out, the world we live in makes a lot of money from convincing us that youthfulness is something we should all strive for, Theres profits to be made in selling youth defying creams, sugery, make up, diets etc, But what if we all learnt to be a bit wabi sabi and appreciate the elegance and character of age

Wabi sabi doesnt shy away from death.
It actively contemplates it. Which is in fact a healthy thing, The we appreciate how brief our existence is, the we can cherish the world around us and be in the present,

Beth has a lovely practical exercise in the book to do, that asks you to make plans for your life if:
you have a full life ahead of you
you have ten years left
you have just one year left

I have never done an exercise like that, but it makes absolute sense.
Any of us could die any day, We have no control over that, But planning a shortened future actually makes you feel joyful and appreciative of that time, And I hope going forward I can hang onto that outlook of trying to soak up every day as if its my last,

Ive noticed since reading the book that I am looking at the world differently, Ive slowed down and made a point of going for lots of walks in nature, And Im figuring out how to have richer, soulful days in, Hopefully the wabi sabi effect will linger with me, This is a great resource for anyone planning a trip to Japan, The bibliography alone is worth the purchase! Really helps a westerner to understand a little bit about Japanese culture and the love of simplicity and beauty, Inperfection, impermanence and incompleteness sum it up! I wouldn't have usually bought a book on Japanese wisdom but because it was by Beth Kempton, I knew it would be worth reading.
I wasn't wrong.

This book has completely changed the way I view my life and the world, It's the most beautiful calming book,

It has helped me let go of the stuckness of 'if it's not going to be perfect it's not worth doing', to nothing is perfect, simply let go and enjoy every moment and live, appreciate those tiny moments, and that aging is beautiful.


There are many things I wanted to do but wasn't doing because I had wanted them to be impossibly perfect,

I'm now able to get on with these things because I'm okay with them not being perfect, and my projects are now being chipped away at, instead of stuck waiting for perfection first, such as my personal wellness/fitness, business dreams, my creativity garden.


Wabi sabi is a magical philosophy that can be applied to so many areas of life, It has given me so much comfort, I already had a big appreciation for nature but I appreciate it even now, For example there is a large dead tree within the grounds of my garden that isn't easy to get to and it used to bug me and I wanted to cut it down.
And now I see its bare branches all year long and I see the beauty in its simple form, I see the memory of what it once was, I look at it and I see history, Simple things like that have changed,

You have to read this book to really appreciate it and understand what it's all about, I especially enjoyed the whole chapter on letting go which made me cry in a good way and I can relate so very closely to those moments with little ones around.
I myself have those wrinkled balloons in the house and toys around,

I will be reading this book many times, as there's a lot to take in and appreciate, It's honestly one of the best books I've ever read, .