29 Comments

Great post. Had this books in my hands once, but did not buy it. Maybe I should. Love the portrait you took of your father.

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Impermanence is something I think of a lot in my practice. Something found in the street may be there for days, weeks, or months but often not for years or decades.

The portrait of your father is exceptional!

I’ll need to see if I can get a hold of that book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

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Sep 10Liked by Stella Kalaw

Thank you for sharing such a poignant reflection. Leonard Koren wrote a follow-up book. A fascinating thinker --

http://leonardkoren.com/lkwa2.html

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Love this, Stella thank you for reminding me of a concept that I've been pursuing since I became a freelance creative over a decade ago. By the way, To Leaves is stunning and I can totally relate to your relationship with your father. Love reading your stories on a Sunday morning!

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Thank you. This is my first Sunday here and I feel I have found a special place.

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author

Welcome, Alice! It’s good to have you here. And, thank you so much for spending some of your time with me this Sunday. I appreciate it. Your words today encourages me to keep going. If you have the bandwidth, do check out the archives and hope you’ll find some hidden gems there too. Enjoy the coming week and hope to see you here again next Sunday!

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This post was beautiful! I loved it. I'm going to track down that Koren book.

The portrait of your father is everything wabi-sabi means to me. Stunning work.

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When I see the portrait of your father, it evokes a feeling of reverence in me. I feel a respect for what he's endured. His quiet resilience humbles me. Over the years, I've seen it many times in my patients and in elderly friends I have known. I wonder if this feeling is akin to the impulse that urged you to preserve the fragile moment as something uniquely human and holy. Wabi-sabi (to me) is a gentle, sane response to a harsh world. Ultimately it asks: Can death be beautiful? We already know the answer.

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"On a personal level, wabi-sabi was my entry point to accepting things as they are and aligning myself with the flow of life." Yes! The same is true for me. Also, I have that book! :)

Beautiful pictures - the portrait of your father is especially poignant. ❤️

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One of my favorite things to photograph is flowers, through their various stages, from buds to their final stages. I was first inspired by Irving Penn's book Flowers, back in the 80's. This post made me think of the beauty I see and capture in photos of flower past their prime.

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Sep 24Liked by Stella Kalaw

The portrait of your father is so beautiful and moving. Very interesting post ❤

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