Beauty and Tea

The chajin seeks an atypical sense of perfection, not in symmetry, but in the beauty of nature. Too ruthless a concept of loveliness will keep you from appreciating the charm of an odd shaped bowl, mismatched tea tools and a well-loved vase. There is nothing we can point to as the perfect tree or the perfect flower, but yet we are moved by their beauty even with the lack of a hard measure of it. This concept of beauty applies outside the tearoom as well. To love someone does not require perfection, in lover or beloved, but appreciation of the oddities, quirks and glitches, yet still finding them lovely.

In uneven bowls,
and in my beloved’s smile,
I find perfection

Song Choice: You Are the Beauty by Gungor

I purchased this beautiful tea bowl from Art to Hold. It has it's own bit of history


Process note: Chajin literally means "tea person", one who studies the art of tea

This haibun is inspired by the prompt given over at A Dash of Sunny. This week's topic for Prompt Night is perfection


26 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I love how this poem has several layers of wisdom and meaning :D way beyond my expectations! Thanks for participating :D


    Lots of love,
    Sanaa


    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  2. Lovely Rommy. It is like a snapshot of you.

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  3. Such a sweet message for us all. Lovely words!

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  4. So true, and so well expressed. It isn't perfection that makes beauty, OR love, but symmetry, affinity and sometimes, intent. The flaws only point out the strengths and the commonalities we as humans all share. I love the ending,(and also, the tea bowl.)Happy New Year, dear Rommy.

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    1. Happy New to you as well! May we both find all the inspiration and time to write we need!

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  5. a wonderful way of defining perfection...

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  6. Apart from everything else, "too ruthless a concept of loveliness" is the perfect phrase to describe what's wrong with our society's concept of personal beauty, especially for women.

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    1. Yes. There is so much beauty in variety that we miss out on amazing things when we have too narrow a criteria.

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  7. Perfection, like beauty, is in the eye (and taste) of the beholder, methinks. And your poem explains this concept so well.

    I'm always taken by the way you write about tea. I can taste your love of it, for what it does for you... and it's delicious. ♥

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    1. I'm lucky to have so many sources of inspiration in my life

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  8. Beautiful! I so prefer the odd, the scars, the unusual.

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  9. you are so wise! yes, imperfection can still be perfection! excellent insight!

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  10. What inspiration for each of us...the perfect beauty in what we hold dear

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    1. How could it be otherwise? Love imparts a beauty of its own. :)

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  11. i see the wabi sabi in this ! nicely done

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    1. I love that you are familiar with the term wabi sabi. :)

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