Lessons from Ikebana

Ikebana is that Japanese art of arranging flowers. Now you may ask, why on earth is Ikebana being discussed in a blog on homelessness? Well, here is the story.

This past weekend a friend of mine and I from the Durham Shambhala Center made a commitment to do some Ikebana arrangements for a wedding. On Friday evening, we went to pick flowers at Harland Creek Farm and then around the corner to the Inn at Celebrity Dairy to arrange the flowers.

While we were paying for the flowers, the farmer said, "Are you sure you really want that? The stems are really crooked and not that pretty."

Our response was, "Sure it will be intersting."

There was some dried allium tops and again she asked, "Those are dead, you really want those?"

We again responded, "In Ikebana, the more interesting looking the flowers and plants the better."

"Well, I've got some dahlias that I wasn't going to take to the farmer's market because the stems are too short. Would you like those?"

We went to the Inn and began arranging. Using the crooked stems, the allium bulbs that looked dead, and the short stemmed dahlias, we put together twenty arrangements. The wedding rehersal dinner was taking place and people came to see us putting the flowers together. Each arrangement was unique in its own right and people pointed out how the unusual looking flowers really were integrated and stood out as the most beautiful when they are coupled with some fresh blooms of zinnias and dahlias.

It's like that with homeless people you know. So many folks want to simply toss them aside because they are worn around the edges, their journey is crooked, and life is not perfect. However, all they need is to be placed in a container with some fresh blooms and they become the most awe inspiring art imaginable.

So that's how Ikebana weaves its way into a homeless blog.