Day 5192: Meditative Patterns & Japan's Emergency Privacy Shelters.

"Meditation": junk paper collage.

            

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    Click:  Michael Jackson, Butterflies.

 

2GN2S

Zen Gardens & Meditative Patterns

In this crazy world, the patterned zen gardens composed by Yuki Kawae are an antidote to today’s seemingly endless anxieties.The Bay Area designer records meditative footage of wide-toothed prongs and dense rakes that scrape across beds of white sand, creating intersecting loops, fractals, and other organic shapes. Each clip is evidence of Kawae’s steady hand a penchant for precision as he carefully plows the otherwise smooth grains to form clean lines.

His practice dates back to 2019 when gardening served as an escape from life pressures and the anxiety-provoking nature of social media. “I was quite overwhelmed with day-to-day tasks and what are the ‘expected’ next steps in life…One day, I realized all of those thoughts were completely gone when I was gardening, pruning, watering, and re-potting the soil. That process let me be clear-minded somehow, and it was very calming and refreshing,” he writes.  Because he didn’t have space for a larger outdoor plot, he shifted to a coffee-table-sized zen garden, an initial design provided a similar reprieve when it pops into the feeds of Kawae’s huge followings onYouTube  and Instagram.

Although Kawae’s works have been limited to digital platforms so far, he envisions a large-scale botanical space with greenery, zen gardens, and his abstract paintings, some of which form the backdrop for his videos. He also has a background in woodworking and shares detailed instructions for creating your own sand space, from building the enclosure to choosing rakes. 

 A 23 minute video, here. 

In a crowded shelter, a cardboard wall can mean dignity.

Since the great earthquake of 2011, shelters in Japan have turned to a humble material to help people through the hardest nights. Simple cardboard beds lift sleepers off cold floors, and light partitions carve out a little private space in a busy hall.

For someone who has lost a home, that small corner matters. It is a place to rest, to grieve quietly, and to gather strength without feeling watched by hundreds of strangers.

Yet after major disasters, supplies do not always stretch far enough, and some shelters still run short of beds and partitions when they are needed most.

Comfort in a crisis is not always grand. Sometimes it is just warmth, a little privacy, and the feeling of being treated as a person.

  

 

A  6+ minute video, Wizard of the Woods, here.

 

 

Just because ...

Keel-billed Toucan

Wednesday's Smiles ... 

 

Hoping you feel all the good things in your day.