Bonsai is an ancient, living art form that never is completed. It requires focus, balance, and composition. Bonsai live for a hundred years, so many times plants are passed from one generation to the next. Bonsai are never centered, but always placed to one side or another. The plants are trained to an asymmetrical balance.
This kind of gardening teaches patience, introduces the glories of solitude, and opens the mind to thoughts about size and scale, and the importance of a single leaf or action.