Wabi-Sabi #8
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8. Cultivate Sabi (the beauty that comes with age). Antique doorknobs and radiator grates give your home soul. Building with salvaged materials gives a new house depth and history it couldn’t otherwise have.
This one is an interesting study for me, because of the two sides to this coin. When I read that sabi is the beauty that comes with age, my mind automatically jumped to old people. In that respect, I think, yeah, we definitely need to appreciate age! This culture is basically terrible to its elderly. We don't appreciate them. We don't think they're beautiful. We do everything we can to look and feel as young as possible until we can't ignore it anymore, at which point our loved ones send us off to nursing homes or somewhere else out of view, so we don't have to deal with their age-related needs. After all, we're too busy, right?? We've got jobs to do, and probably kids to feed. Ever since I was young, I always thought I would have a place for my parents to live in my house or on my property for when they get older. I don't want to send them off sight unseen to some place where old people go to die. I want them to be near their family and loved ones. And I want to appreciate my own human aging as a process, and to view it as a beautiful thing. I'm just not sure how to go about doing that when it's been so ingrained in my head that oldness = ugliness.
The other side to this is the aging of objects. Again, I don't have any appreciation for that. I pretty much despise antiques. I see them as other people's old junk. That's probably pretty terrible. But, in my defense, the antiques I've been exposed to have all been fairly poorly made, and not exactly in the best of shape. So to really appreciate their beauty, they'd need a lot of work. However, it is my understanding that any work at all will most likely bring down the value. So really, I'd rather just have new things. Handmade things, sure, but not old. I'll leave antiques for someone else to appreciate. Now, that being said, I do think there are some antiques that are worth keeping. Such as glass or marble objects. Or, things that are really well-made and keep for a long time. If you loved your grandmother's antique china, for example, I have no problem with using it. Perhaps there is a beautiful marble statue that's been in your family for generations that you love. Perfect. Old chairs and old tables and dressers? Not so much. So I guess it just depends on the object, but in my general opinion, I'd just really rather not inherit anyone's antiques.
But... I do like this idea of reusing. I always wanted to build a house. Like a really nice, well-designed house, with lots of thought and love and care put into it. And I'd love for the house to be completely green. Everything would be energy efficient, and environmentally friendly. Of course, that would require reducing, reusing, and recycling as much as possible. So while I might not be able to get on board with running around finding century-old metal bed frames with which to furnish my house, I would love to reuse all the salvageable wood and stones in an abandoned barn. I love the thought that it gives depth and character to the house. I love the thought that the stones have been passed down; not just from the farmer who built the old barn 100 years ago, but from the earth itself, thousands of years ago.
This one is an interesting study for me, because of the two sides to this coin. When I read that sabi is the beauty that comes with age, my mind automatically jumped to old people. In that respect, I think, yeah, we definitely need to appreciate age! This culture is basically terrible to its elderly. We don't appreciate them. We don't think they're beautiful. We do everything we can to look and feel as young as possible until we can't ignore it anymore, at which point our loved ones send us off to nursing homes or somewhere else out of view, so we don't have to deal with their age-related needs. After all, we're too busy, right?? We've got jobs to do, and probably kids to feed. Ever since I was young, I always thought I would have a place for my parents to live in my house or on my property for when they get older. I don't want to send them off sight unseen to some place where old people go to die. I want them to be near their family and loved ones. And I want to appreciate my own human aging as a process, and to view it as a beautiful thing. I'm just not sure how to go about doing that when it's been so ingrained in my head that oldness = ugliness.
The other side to this is the aging of objects. Again, I don't have any appreciation for that. I pretty much despise antiques. I see them as other people's old junk. That's probably pretty terrible. But, in my defense, the antiques I've been exposed to have all been fairly poorly made, and not exactly in the best of shape. So to really appreciate their beauty, they'd need a lot of work. However, it is my understanding that any work at all will most likely bring down the value. So really, I'd rather just have new things. Handmade things, sure, but not old. I'll leave antiques for someone else to appreciate. Now, that being said, I do think there are some antiques that are worth keeping. Such as glass or marble objects. Or, things that are really well-made and keep for a long time. If you loved your grandmother's antique china, for example, I have no problem with using it. Perhaps there is a beautiful marble statue that's been in your family for generations that you love. Perfect. Old chairs and old tables and dressers? Not so much. So I guess it just depends on the object, but in my general opinion, I'd just really rather not inherit anyone's antiques.
But... I do like this idea of reusing. I always wanted to build a house. Like a really nice, well-designed house, with lots of thought and love and care put into it. And I'd love for the house to be completely green. Everything would be energy efficient, and environmentally friendly. Of course, that would require reducing, reusing, and recycling as much as possible. So while I might not be able to get on board with running around finding century-old metal bed frames with which to furnish my house, I would love to reuse all the salvageable wood and stones in an abandoned barn. I love the thought that it gives depth and character to the house. I love the thought that the stones have been passed down; not just from the farmer who built the old barn 100 years ago, but from the earth itself, thousands of years ago.
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This one--I feel fully capable of saying I do this. Nothing in my house, beyond some of my clothes, food, most electronics, and some dishes has been bought brand new. Everything has been handed down from someone. I have my grandmother's dining set and dishes, a table John found in Philiadelphia, Bonnie Brown's parents piano, Aunt Anna's armoire, Carol and Biruta from Alaska's sofa, mattresses from Mom and Dad, bookcases from Cullips, books from library book sales, and dining room chairs from Salvation Army. And it all has nothing to do with me wanting to be green, more to do with the fact that we didn't have money to outfit our house in new. So pretty much, poor people are more green than rich people. :-D The socioeconomic status of the true greeners. I think someone should write a paper on this. Re-using in my mind is WAY more green than buying something new that is "green". If you are simply reusing, you are not making waste from creating something new, not requiring new resources, not requiring the shipment to stores, packaging, and subsequent throwing away of packaging. There is a point at which a car from the 1980s is more green than a new Prius. I think actually, the same could be said about building new green houses. If there are already houses available in the area, is it greener to build a new one, no matter how much you are re-using? Debatable. But if you are going to build anyway, I think it is a really neat idea to use reclaimed wood and stone from things that have finished their usefulness. They look cooler. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure there are lots of papers on this subject, as it's the definition of reusing to actually reuse things. Which is why it's before "recycle" and after "reduce" in the little saying. They're in order of importance, see? So reusing IS more green than buying new! Ta da! You're the greenest gal I know. :) I'm all for reusing, as long as it's something I like or can make over into something I like. The building a new home bit is because in general, older buildings are less energy efficient and more full of horrible chemicals (asbestos anyone?) than it would be if it were new. Now, maybe a REALLY old house, like built with just stones and brick and mortar would be better. But you'd still probably have lots work to do to make it liveable. So I don't know that it'd be better to reuse building materials or renovate an already-put-needs-a-lot-of-work house.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole renovate or build new debate depends on your personal preference. People who renovate could produce oodles of papers proving it's greener to renovate and people who build new green buildings could do the same. I think the whole point is to have the "green" mindset. I, personally, love old houses and will one day buy one and renovate (energy inefficiency, asbestos, lead paint, and all), so I tend to quote the whole making humankind's footprint bigger by building in a new spot studies. But you can find supporting evidence for either one. However, what I take this wabi sabi to mean is find beauty in old rusty things. And here's the deal w/ me and old rusty things: I hate the shabby chic look. Hate it. I hate purposefully chipped paint on dressers, I hate purposefully stained linens, etc. I love antiques and old furniture, but if I get hand-me-down furniture (which is basically all I've ever had), I'm painting it and replacing hardware on it or covering it w/ a slipcover to look new. Nothing bugs me more than people paying a bazillion dollars to buy something new that looks old (Pottery Barn, anyone??) Just thinking about it makes me angry. It's like rich people slumming. Ugh ugh ugh. But fine antiques, Ver, I get worried about doing anything to. I love to go into antique stores, but I think I've watched too many Antique Roadshows to buy anything b/c I'm paranoid I'll buy a cool old dresser for cheap, paint it white, and then have my grandkids find out that it's a Chippendale and it's now worth $0.25 b/c I messed w/ it. I need to become an antiques expert to live my poor person lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the shabby chic look. I don't HATE it, but I don't see the point in it. As weird as it is, I felt this way going to Almanzo Wilder's house/farm in Burke. Everything was exceedingly old and faded. I felt like telling them THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE IN ALMANZO'S TIME. Just because the picture was black and white does not mean that at any point there was no color or paint. I think if you are going to reuse something, cool. But shabby chic is stupid. Sometimes they buy brand new and make it look old with chipped paint. Crazy first world people.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I am all that green. Just economically green. I like to do my part for the environment, but I don't stress about it much.
And yeah, the new house vs old house is more of a personal preference than anything. I just think some people get hung up on being green and think new with organic, sustainable, or alternative fuel is several notches above reuse. Like green status symbols. And then it is silly.