Kintsugi
KINTSUGI
We’ve all had trials and tribulations. Good and bad relationships. Successes and failures. We are all broken in some way. The key is how we handle these breaks and how we recover. The Japanese have a great perspective on this via the concept of Kintsugi which is a principle of Wabi-sabi.
And no, Wabi-sabi is not the spicy green paste commonly served with sushi. It is something much different.
A quick Google and Wikipedia search tells us that:
Wabi-sabi is the Japanese concept of “embracing the flawed or imperfect.”
Under wabi-sabi, nothing is permanent, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect.
Wabi-sabi is the view or thought of finding beauty in every aspect of imperfection in nature.
It is about the aesthetic of things in existence that are “imperfect; impermanent; and incomplete.”
Wabi-sabi is about accepting the flow of life.
Kintsugi teaches us to accept fragility; build strength and resilience; and to take pride in the imperfect.
Kintsugi means “golden joinery.” It comes from the root “kintsukuroi” which means “golden repair.”
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.
As a philosophy, kintsugi treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.
From the web site www.konmari.com :
“Kintsugi teaches us that our broken pieces make us stronger and better than ever before. When you think you are broken, you can pick up the pieces, put them back together, and learn to embrace the cracks.
It is not lost on us that the fact that the repairs are made with precious metals tells us that an object (or ourselves) can have more value after breaking and being repaired that we were prior to the breakage.
We are all broken. We know our own breaks and we have friends and family that have had to repair their breakage as well. The Japanese art of Kintsugi is a strong life philosophy and life lesson for us as well as a means of repairing pottery.”
Here’s a weird thought…think of how much different the fable of Humpty Dumpty would have been had all the king’s horses and all the king’s men known about kintsugi. He could have been put back together again, more valuable than before. What he was doing on the wall in the first place is another question.
But back to reality…
Again, we are all broken in some way, but if we look at our scars and our breaks through the lenses of wabi-sabi and kintsugi, these breaks become golden repairs, and badges of honor, and part of the quilt of our lives.
Many of us may feel more broken when relationships end, or when important people in our lives evolve and move on in different directions. We might feel lost, broken, or even a bit stupid for having higher expectations for the relationship. But I don’t believe it is ever wrong to love someone who may feel broken or is in need of our genuine love and friendship to help them see their value and find the light within themselves to pursue their happiness and be who they are supposed to be.
While we may feel broken in the short term, the golden lacquer of time will help us heal that break and make us proud for daring to love someone.
I have quite a few quotes to share with you today:
“Your job is to lift the fallen; Restore the broken; And heal the hurting.”
Joel Osteen
“Always leave people better than you found them. Hug the hurt. Kiss the broken. Befriend the lost. Love the lonely.”
Unknown
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
Frederick Douglas
“Mosaics are made from broken pieces, but they’re still a work of art. And so are you.”
Unknown
“Art is to console those who are broken by life.”
Van Gogh
“I’m not interested in whether you’ve stood with the great. I’m interested in whether you’ve sat with the broken.”
From @theageofenlightenment
Tom-ism:
We are all broken in some way. I am broken too. But I will break off a piece of my heart…a piece of me, and I will give it to you…to help make you whole.
We are all miracles and works of art, divinely created. We are all broken in some way, but we can repair each other and lift each other up with love, forgiveness, kindness, respect, and understanding.
Look Up! Look Around! Be the missing piece, or the gold lacquer in someone’s life, to help make them whole!