wabi sabi simple

Having been a fan of Richard's wabi-sabi world for some time, I decided to buy one of his books, Wabi Sabi Simple. It struck a chord in many a passage: he doesn't hang about, but gets straight into the job in hand. A couple of quotations from the early pages should suffice for now:

"Filling life with wabi sabi might be as simple as emptying it of clutter. Wabi sabi cannot be contained in anything square, boxy, or bright, nor can it ever be modular. Quality control kills it, and uniformity negates it. It has to be authentic, genuine, and natural. It perishes under refinement, and sameness wilts it. Acquiring large quantities of wabi sabi objects defeats the purpose, because central to their appeal is their uniqueness, their one-of-a-kind feel, and the way they make life less institutional, less grandiose, less highfalutin'. Having lots of wabi sabi is a contradiction." p.6.

"[Wabi sabi] describes a certain type of simplicity, not the simplicity of square apartment buildings, nor the unimaginative simplicity of mass media, mass transportation, or mass marketing. It is not about volume or size. Bigger is not better and faster is not fantastic. It is about travel at a human speed, eating natural food, and slowing down to be mindful. It is about respectful conversation, harmonious and peaceful dwellings, and modest behavior. It is ordered but not orderly, planned but not scheduled, simple but not simple-minded, and deliberate without being rigid." p.7.