Wabi-sabi confusion

Wabi-sabi has been one of the things difficult to explain. I can tell if something has wabi-sabi feel when I see it. Maybe because I grew up in Japan surrounded by them. Or because I love modern interpretation of its style, like Zen influenced California modern.

But, I probably don’t know what it is because I can’t articulate that to my own children. Hell, I can't even do that to myself. It is far more than its words mean. And we value it even though we really don’t understand it. Wired. 

I was reading up on the history of cha-shitsu (茶室), tea-ceremony building, recently. That had not helped me to solve the puzzle yet. However, I felt like I might be getting at why it was so confusing. That was not much, yet, it could be a good place to start.

I’m now reading Tao Te Ching. It might help me to see whether my hypothesis, if I can call that, is totally out of whack or I might be onto something.

Down the rabbit hole.

Ocean and babies. What do I really miss?

So, my baby (the youngest) posted a short video clip of a beach with the Pacific Ocean waves.

That brought back some memories from almost thirty years ago. I had a real newborn baby back then, my oldest.

I used to take him to Palisades Park in Santa Monica and pushed the stroller up and down along the beach. Another favorite place we frequented was the original Getty Museum; now called the Getty Villa. At night, I played "Pachelbel Canon D Major Ocean Sounds" on cassette tape to help us sleep.

Do I miss the ocean? Yes. I grew up near one. It intensifies, because one just can not hop on a plane and go now. I should be grateful, and I am, that I can just go to a nice swimming pool and swim. But, it's not the same.

Do I miss my children? Definitely and sometimes terribly. None live nearby. (My daughter lives the closest. Still, five hours drive away.) Okay, I am the one who has been telling them to go and explore the world on their own. And, that's what they are doing. So, I am honestly happy for them. I am also grateful that they grew up to be wonderful adults and that we have great relationships. We text, video chats, and all that. But again, it's not the same. I miss hugging them.

I know I am okay. I have things to do and am doing them as usual. I just miss real and good human connections, face to face kinds. Like billions of others, I'm sure. Until this pandemic becomes more manageable, I need to stick to virtual means. Not the same, but better than no contact.

Renzo was a cutie. He was also very alert. This is him at only a couple weeks old. Yes, he was born with that much hair. A nurse in the delivery room told me, "Oh, you are having a cat baby!"

One day, I was sitting on a bench at Palisades Park with Renzo. He was probably three or four months old. A well dressed old gentleman sat next to me. He was watching Renzo for a while, then, asked me if I would consider selling him for a million dollars. I was taken aback and laughed off. Well, he was so cute and had infectious giggles. He was a people magnet. 

He is nearly thirty now. Grown. Up. Okay, I feel much better now. 😌

A prominent Japanese joined Tesla board

Tesla's shareholder proxy vote had a Japanese name listed.

For a split second, I thought he must be an executive from Panasonic. I am glad I did not dismiss it as such and googled him instead.

Tesla Welcomes Hiromichi Mizuno (水野弘道) as New Independent Director to its Board... 

Hiro’s entire career has been in finance and investment... Most recently, Hiro served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which is the largest pension fund in the world with approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management.  

During his time there, Hiro emphasized the importance of environmental considerations in portfolio management and became a global thought leader in sustainable and responsible investment. He also challenged many established market practices, including short-selling, to promote long-term value creation by corporations. .... 

We are excited that Hiro has joined our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

(excerpt from)  https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/f455a322-7032-4a6f-a314-df1afc21397f

He is the only prominent Japanese who works with Tesla (well, other than Panasonic) I've come across in a decade I've been following Tesla. 

He is also articulate. He sounds like he talks about what he believes, which, unfortunately, is rare in governments or corporations in Japan.

Here is a short talk he gave at Cambridge in January this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AIlgTwqo2M  (Short talk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNHhYytoJQE   (Q&A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC-Z4Q8wdj0   (Q&A)

It's possible someone like him is not that unusual in current Japan. I may just don't know as I have not been following anything of or about Japan for three decades. If that's the case, please excuse my ignorance. 

Anyhow, I am glad that someone from Japan, who has an influence, joined Tesla to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. A piece of good news in a rather dark time.

#Tesla  #sustainableenergy  #HiromichiMizuno

P.S.

If you want to know what Tesla's mission is all about, in detail with background info and stories, read this. It's the best and easiest to understand among all I've come across. And, it's fun to read.

https://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-life.html

If you want to read the above in Japanese, I have translated it into Japanese and summarised, with the author's permission. It's 19 parts published in this blog in 2015. Hope you enjoy it. 

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

https://iitokotexas.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-post.html

seventeen more...