3 Keys To Lowering Your Stress Level - #89

According to Koren,* the Japanese people who created the philosophy of wabi-sabi didn't trust nature; they learned from it. 

From observing nature they discovered three truths:  

1. All things are incomplete. 
2. All things are imperfect.
3. All things are impermanent.

The ubiquitous shopping bag (anchored in the tree you see above) is in my backyard. A resident for over a year, this sack became a container for rainwater.  Look closely.

When the bag established residence, I did not welcome it. It registered in my consciousness as ugly litter. It was several months before I realized the potential art installation nature of the bag.  

I then began checking it daily.  

When bloated with water, it no longer was free flowing and beautiful. It slipped to imperfect.

Presently tattered, ripped into two sections, impermanence is front and center.

Watching the progression from incomplete to perfect then to imperfect and finally to disintegration, I didn't become frustrated and stressed out. It all seemed normal and natural, expected even.  

Unfortunately the last few days, stress that occurs when one fights incompleteness, imperfection, and impermanence has been a house guest. If only I remembered how normal and natural chaos is for me while working on my computer.

On the surface, changing an email address doesn't seem too stressful but in reality, it was. Do you remember passwords? The answers to security questions? Do you understand computer speak?

Please celebrate with me as I announce the birth of a new email address:

                                                   Nicola.Mendenhall@gmail.com

Do you recognize how fighting these three truths causes you stress? Please let me know how you incorporate these truths into your lives by clicking on www.NickyMendenhall.blogspot.com and leaving a comment.

My old address will work for awhile so don't fret. Feedburner may still use my old address to deliver this to you. I'm still working on that.

Thanks for exploring the mystery with me - Nicky Mendenhall

* Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren (1994 & 2008)