In Japanese aesthetics, there is a concept known as yūgen, which has no real translation even though we have all felt it. In the Chinese philosophical texts from which the term was taken, yūgen meant "deep" or "mysterious." But really it points to a sensation of sadness. Not grief per se, but, rather, a delightful kind of wistfulness akin to the feeling that arises when listening to Satie or Debussy. It is strongly related to the acceptance of transience that is associated with wabi-sabi. Today’s musing attempts to poke at this feeling.

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