@Fslowly tooted this text on Humblr on Oct 17
In my hour of darkness, he is standing right in front of me
speaking words of wisdom, let it be
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I never liked "Let it be," still don't. So I was puzzled when the tune began playing over and over in my head in mid-October.
In a context of grief, I can only theorize that something in my sub-conscious demanded acknowledgment of the song lyrics. I can't recall anything like this happening before, probably won't happen again.
I construed it as a good omen when I discovered a Venn diagram about "Let it be" here in the local feed.
I still don't know what to make of a graphic image showing "Let it be" at the core of Venn or Euler intersections. But at least the tune isn't on a constant re-play loop in my thoughts.
There is a common phrase in Japanese which is similar -- usually translated to mean "it can't be helped" or "nothing can be done about it" (shikata ga nai 仕方がない; shō ga nai しょうがない)
QOTO = Question Others to Teach Ourselves?
@design_RG Your interest in wabi-sabi has been in the back of my mind for the past few days.
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I wonder if a Humpty Dumpty corollary might be more useful in our STEM-focused environment?
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KINSUGI. Do you know anything about Kinsugi? It's a traditional Japanese method of repairing broken ceramics -- see Wikipedia "Kinsugi" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi; see also "Kintsugi: The Centuries-Old Art of Repairing Broken Pottery with Gold" (Kelly Richman-Abdou). My Modern Met. September 5, 2019.
https://mymodernmet.com/kintsugi-kintsukuroi/; compare Google image search for "kintsugi" https://www.google.com/search?q=kintsugi&newwindow=1&sxsrf=ACYBGNRbOzFEcQhqzPd8Nk7ARQvNxIk1HA:1575252334641&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4vNme8JXmAhUtqlkKHfLPB9kQ_AUoAnoECBEQBA&biw=1920&bih=920
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PHILOSOPHY/THEORY: A kinsugi repair marries the history of an object with whatever we are able to hold in our hands or see with our eyes.
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The important point isn't so much about the repaired plate or bowl; rather, it's about how the visible repair helps to shift a viewer's POV.
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"The modern-day fascination with kintsugi may have most to do with its associations with the Japanese philosophy of wabi -- a historical term that dates back to the 16th century, which describes the beauty of imperfection." -- see "The Centuries-Old Japanese Tradition of Mending Broken Ceramics with Gold" (Casey Lesser). Artsy. Aug 24, 2018.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-centuries-old-japanese-tradition-mending-broken-ceramics-gold
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In our context, I wonder if this flexible POV could be useful as a metaphor. In truth, I've tried and failed in trying to use this metaphor. I just haven't been able to make it work for me. Maybe you can do better?
@chikara Thank you for your post, I am honoured.
I did not know anything about Kintsugi, but the images you posted are wonderful.
The fix makes the object unique, in a way superior to the unbroken original. They remind me of the layers we sometimes can observe in rocks, and wonder how that happened.
Here, the randomness of the fracture lines, the gold colour which is not part of the original, but an important part of the repaired object. Very pretty.
Thank you also for the completeness of your post, linking to sources for further reading and discovery.
Well done! 👍
@chikara
Another beautiful post, thank you. I enjoyed reading the fragments of the song lyrics around the diagram. It is a poetic and mournful ballad, I like it.
Your reference to the Japanese concept you mentioned brought to my mind another one, which I admired since first encountering a reference to it. Wabi-sabi.
"In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.[2] The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".[3] It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō), suffering (苦 ku) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (空 kū).
Characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
I found it profound. Accepting imperfection and impermanence can reduce our stress and struggle. A pacified mind might perceive other insights, instead of seeking unattainable perfection.
@Fslowly