Editorial Thursday 17 July 2014: Neil Young and the wabi-sabi NHS

The Japanese aesthetic concept of wabi-sabi strikes me as a useful one for thinking about how the NHS is going to have to be to get through the oncoming mess.

Wabi-sabi works on the basis that
Nothing lasts,
Nothing is finished,
Nothing is perfect.

Wikipedia states that "characteristics of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asymmetry, asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes".

Sabi is the Japanese word for rust, which chimes neatly with my motto that either entropy or bindweed will get us in the end.

And as Neil Young sings, "it's better to burn out than it is to rust".