I stumbled across this ancient Japanese word many years ago, and since then it has paved my life. It’s a fascinating expression, embracing so many things essential to being – and I find it terrifically beautiful. So what the bean sprout am I talking about? A special way of appreciating life; may it be the grace of form, or a simple moment in time. I’m talking about the Japanese art of living through experience.

My joie de vivre had me pack all my curiously engaged senses, to embark on a tingling journey seeking out the richness of these moments. On my way, I met a tonne of people; ordinary or aficionado, artisans carving out their passion, connoisseurs and floaters, as well as spirited folks chasing their dreams. Constantly captivated by rich conversation, I found myself stunned by other explosions of creativity, like palate hijacking flavours, sound odysseys, and smells that run to the back of your throat. Had finally captured this fleeting idea? Had I unlocked myself to a new sense of being? All this was right under my nose but I just had to be open to it.

So I guess we all have emotional responses to experience, whatever any moment may bring. Perhaps time and experience taps on specific feelings, memories, and sentiments. Perhaps it has the power to shed clarity in our thought process. I find myself asking how we can expand our sensory landscape, and how we can enjoy the heightened state of every moment.

Franc Botre, Editor in Chief of ‘Spirito De Vino’ reflected on this idea in one of his prefaces, “It takes years to grasp the concept of Quality and Emotion. This arises in the from of depth in knowledge and ethical culture, which in its turn develops and generates the aesthetics concept; Ethics and aesthetics together rise the spirit of life upwards, towards the peak of Emotion Quality. To appreciate the finer things in life, hence, takes culture, knowledge and experience, which allow us to seek out and recognize the quality (…)” of things, moments, and experiences – the condition of Adeyaka.

The joy of capturing life’s best.

/ written by Sylwia Plaza /