I was introduced to wabi-sabi when I was reading Living Out Loud by Keri Smith. These are the phrases that stuck out to me as I was reading her description of the term:
Less is more.
Imperfection.
Willingness to accept things as they are.
Slow down to take notice.
Hidden things.
Transformed.
Impermanence.
Details in everyday life.
Could be dismissed as ugly but instead deemed valuable.
Value what is in the moment.
What is more, Keri says, “If you like control, it takes courage and trust to practice wabi-sabi.”
And let me just tell you, I like control. (Now that is another blog post right there!)
For instance if I see something like this on the floor (*note photo below of chipped wooden circles and shiny plastic stars), and no little kids are playing with it because they’re are on to the next game and have not cleaned up their mess, a slight panic sets in. Ack! A mess! Whatever shall we do with it? Blood pressure rises, the shakes set in. Okay, I’m exaggerating here. But only a little. 
But wabi-sabi would have me do as I did today. Stopping my hand in its motion to reach to pick these toys up and restore them to their rightful place. Stopping my voice from yelling out, “Come clean up your toys.” Instead I stared at them until I was able to look past the ugly and discover the colorful. Suddenly the pile of junk turned into something lovely, right before my eyes, almost magically. And for a mere second I grasped the meaning of wabi-sabi.
And I think, once you grasp it once, it gets easier to notice it again, in other places.
It becomes delightful to see if you can trick your controlling self into finding beauty in the messes of life. It also, I would imagine, makes for one much less up-tight mom, for which all the Steward kids give three cheers.
It’s a training process to see beauty instead of ashes, and I hope to develop the discipline so I can enjoy each and every lovely moment life brings our way.
Do you practice wabi-sabi in your life? How?
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Oh boy! That’s a tough one, I loved looking at your photos, now if I could just learn to see my house like that……what a challenge….I might need that book!
Mandy!
I love your blog. I love your posts. I am enjoying your mom-hood journey and have especially enjoyed this introduction to wabi-sabi.
Thank you so much for sharing your writing and your heart. What a good mom.
Someone told me the best thing I can give my kids is a healthy mom (e.g. centered, emotionally whole and fully alive in Christ) and I see you becoming this in your posts.
Looking forward to getting to know you better.
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