I stumbled upon this blog post during my Sunday email power-hour reading today.
It describes three Japanese philosophies:
- Chisoku: learning to be content with what you have versus wanting more.
- Wabi-Sabi: finding beauty in imperfection.
- Mitate: every object has more than one purpose.
I enjoy reading, learning, and applying philosophies from different cultures. Especially, Roman and Japanese philosophy as they bring different points of view to what Western culture is nowadays – live for the new, the flashy, and the now.
Roman philosophy is a good reminder of how little life has really changed in the grand scheme of things. While Japanese philosophy puts an appreciation on some minuscule aspects of life without losing the bigger picture.
They are different in most aspects, but the beauty of philosophy is that there is no right or wrong. It’s up to us to read, learn, interpret, experience, and decide what fits best for us and our lifestyle.
I realized since long time ago that picking and choosing the best of different worlds rather than sticking and being fixated with one is what works best for me.
I believe some of the best things in life come together when we can learn and appreciate things from outside of our fields, ideas, experiences, cultures, and philosophies – think of it as assembling Legos.
Philosophy is a reminder to challenge ideas, cultures, and the status quo in healthy debates. While at the same time, appreciate life, moments, and experiences now and for the long term.
Philosophy is best experienced when we can live a life detached from material things. It also helps when we can think logically and critically about what we need versus what we want.
Richard Chan 