The soul elegance – Emiko Kato

February 8, 2016 · 6:33 am

When you see a person with elegant soul, you immediately notice it: natural and slow movements, at easy smile, open eyes. I do not mean the fit out, nor the costy boots, not the fashion car. I just mean the person, with the inner light that makes you desire to stay with that person.

It doesn't happen to me very often, in the last years, to meet such people. It happened more often when I practised aikido, and I do not know if the elegance was a cause or an effect of the martial art. Maybe both ones. The movements are slow, but not the result of inner brakes, and the speech is clear and soften. You know that if that person tells you that he/she will do a thing, he/she will simply do it, no excuses.

Now I mostly meed people who is accustomed to pretend and play: if something goes wrong, the fault is Always others'. If something goes well, the merit is Always theirs.
But the inner elegance is a way that each of us can take: a Do, in the Japanese sense. No matter what other people do.

The main subject of Kato's book is that the outer elegance is something that you can have only if you have a clear heart ( kokoro!): if you cultivate mean thinkings, then, I am sorry, you can wear expensive glasses and follow trade-marks, but you won't ever be elegant.

And, above all, the path to elegance never ends.

Have a good day!