"Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness. Wabi-sabi is ambivalent about separating beauty from non-beauty or ugliness. The beauty of wabi-sabi is, in one respect, the condition of coming to terms with what you consider ugly. Wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else. Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view. Beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace."

— Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers

what i expected to be a humdrum take on dismantling the patriarchy and girlbossing turned out to be a complete subversion, prying our eyes away from the systems in place and dissecting what it means to solemnly accept our fate and destiny; to cultivate beauty out of the incomplete and imperfect, the very essence of wabi-sabi.

it poses a question to those seeking to grind, work, and reproduce in the most functional manner, only to be discarded or disregarded when their productivity ceases or completely stops: who are you, beyond what is expected of you? do you possess a true individuality? and if so, does it pale in comparison to your lack of feeling accomplished in life?

many undertake their responsibilities out of a sense of honor and duty, mistaking it for a life doomed to convention and misery. others are more whimsical about their roles, overestimating their abilities and failing to realize the ways in which they've been brought up prevent what they hoped to expect. without a middle-path, the only feeling that dawns is that of failure, and subsequently, despair.

my favorite scene is one where one of the main characters, while walking through the city, stops and stares at two girls across a bridge giggling on their bike. upon noticing her, they give her a wave to which she returns, warily at first, then enthusiastically.

one of my favorite activities is walking around the city alone, and it's something i do often. for the sake of my faith, i've given up a lot i used to partake in. watching my 20s go by in a blur, all that's left is for me to settle down and start a family. but i also know that nobody wants an orphan with a shoddy past as a future daughter-in-law. that it might just be my destiny to die alone before i meet someone suitable. but it's enough for me to watch the cityscape and observe the crowds of people, and yearn for something outside of the duties that await me. to know that i'm not defined by them, no matter how many men use it to determine my worth. that while my upbringing and newfound morality preclude a lot, i can still blossom into an individual i love being. whatever is destined for me, will find me. i try to make peace with that. this film is an illustration of those who share that same struggle, irrespective of one's social-status, class, and circumstance. perhaps, so long as you put yourself first, you'll draw to you what belongs to you.