I sometimes wander round Amazon, looking for attractive sounding titles to break out of any rut I'm in, and in doing so recently came across In praise of shadows by Junichiro Tanazaki. I liked the idea of looking at the aesthetics of shadows, but the book turned out to be something other than I had expected. However, this was a good thing.
Luck seems to bring me the books I need to read when I need to read them. I don't always buy them when I need them, but somehow titles I've had lying around the house for many years bring themselves to my attention just when they are required. This very slim volume was written before WWII, and speaks of how global influence: 'progress' can influence a culture's development - perhaps for ill. The shadows of the title are to do with the importance of not only obscurity in Japanese interiors, but also of the importance of quiet simplicity.
I am increasingly aware of the elegance of distillation: a simplicity full of elements that it is not. And now suddenly having had so much of my time and thoughts eaten into by the demands of caring for my mother, I appreciate even more how vital it is not to squander precious opportunities to savour delicacies. This essay by the Japanese novelist has brought thoughts which spill over, and have prepared me to make the most of a link to another thought-provoking parcel of input from Japan.
Earlier today I wrote a post in Ragged Cloth Cafe prompted by my friend's visit to an exhibition of sashiko textiles curated by Michele Walker. I found the website for the exhibition inspirational - especially Walker's article. Together with ideas brewing from reading the book, the thoughts that are being inspired are to do with making the most of one's own cultural values.
It is the quiet intensity of enthusiasm that has moved me in both book and article, and it has cheered me that it's not always absolutely essential to visit an exhibition oneself in order to derive benefit from it. Of course that is one of the boons of the Internet.