A former colleague and a long distance friend posted a photo and linked to this article on Komorebi.
Komorebi is one of many Japanese words that have no translation, the closest we come is "dappled sunlight".
I love that feeling when walking in the woods or out in the open when the trees and the sunlight dance and hold each other in ways that create such a beautiful union.
I found this definition on a page for the company called Global Translations Business Services -Komorebi is an untranslatable word, which eloquently captures the effect of sunlight streaming through the leaves of the trees. The shadow created on the ground, or even in our curtains, describes this everyday beauty.
It is the interplay of the aesthetics between the shadows and the leaves, and the shape of nature’s wisest earthly existence – trees.
To equate the powerful beauty projected by this word with “sunbeam” or “sunshine” would be an injustice to nature’s landscape – our magnificent perpetual muse.
The etymology of the word komorebi is a quite logical and obvious one. Komorebi is a compound of four characters – three kanji and the hiragana particle れ.
The first kanji 木 means ‘tree’ (or ‘trees‘), the second one 漏 refers to ‘escape’ and the last one 日 is ‘light‘ or ‘sun‘ and there we come to the literal, yet very poetic meaning of the term komorebi – the sunshine filtering through the leaves of trees.
What I know is that I love those moments of noticing komorebi, how the light finds it way to and through the trees. Those moments feel as if I am standing in a Sanctuary, silent, still and almost able to see the movements of all those beams of light.
I am drawn to another Japanese concept, Forest Bathing.
What is forest bathing?
In 1982, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries created the term shinrin-yoku, which translates to “forest bathing” or “absorbing the forest atmosphere.” The practice encourages people to simply spend time in nature — no actual bathing required. It’s also very low impact, which means you don’t have to go for intense trail runs or hikes. The goal of forest bathing is to live in the present moment while immersing your senses in the sights and sounds of a natural setting.
I have not done enough shinrin-yoku of late. However, I do notice the dappled sunlight from by front and side porches. I breathe in the light dancing of my pots of herbs and the flower tops. I notice my hummingbird that still arrives almost every day, mostly in the late afternoon. But I think I will do a little forest bathing this weekend. Maybe take a hike to Shin Brook Falls or go into the National Monument at the northern entrance. There will be dappled sunlight, there will be Komorebi on the waters of the eastern branch of the Penobscot, and if I can be still enough to notice I will be present in the sanctuary of the light, the trees and all that dances in between.
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