I am a deeply impractical person, and formerly a chubby, manga-obsessed middle-schooler, which means I’ve long been obsessed with the Japanese art of ikebana, or flower arrangement. It fascinates me for a variety of reasons (its position as an ideal pursuit for generals and accomplished warriors, its spiritual components, its dense, specific visual vocabulary, the fact that I’m a swishy brat who loves flowers) but the aspect of the practice that I’m most fascinated with is its adherence to the aesthetic concept of ma.