Stylish Spaces

 The reality of a room, for instance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and the walls, not in the roof and walls themselves. The usefulness of a water pitcher dwelt in the emptiness where water might be put, not in the form of the pitcher or the material of which it was made. Vacuum is all potent because all containing. In vacuum alone motion becomes possible. One who could make of himself a vacuum into which others might freely enter would become master of all situations.  The Book Of  Tea I spent a greater part of my life thinking of vacuum as a harrowing hollowness inside ones soul or emptiness in ones heart or in the physical world cold, bare and sad rooms - in short, nothing to look forward to  - until I read this beautiful passage by Kakuzo Okakura. I remember reading this some ten years back and as the words slowly sank in, being deeply, profoundly affected by it. It was that moment of clarity for me. How wrong I had been...

Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others. The Book of Tea The art of decorating and adorning your personal spaces – and by personal spaces I mean your home and your personality - is one and the same – know your strengths and acknowledge your virtues but display them to the world subtly, almost humbly, even apologetically at times. The basic idea is to enhance and present the whole rather than zoom in on the carefully selected qualities you want the world to see. Emphasising and reiterating your virtues to others never does you any good - unless you are at an interview where they ask you to talk about yourself – it is a topic best avoided. And if you are so inclined, and human race is inflicted with vanity of the narcissist kind, then be warned – at best it will get people’s back up against you, and at worst will makes them horribly envious in a sadistic kind of way where they will gleef...