The Art of Kintsugi
I was reading a travel blog recently which enlightened me to a practice I faintly recall seeing an example of in a museum as a child. As I mulled over the philosophy behind this art form I thought what a beautiful gift it would be to apply it to the cracks of our lives and not just to physical goods.
Kintsugi is a Japanese word meaning “golden joinery” or “golden repair”. It is practiced as the art of repairing broken pottery by filling the cracks with a golden epoxy to create something entirely new, celebrated, and even more valuable. These mended and beautiful creations are cherished and are even stronger than the original pieces because of the framework of golden veins holding them together.
When recent events such as what happened in France a couple of weeks ago occur I think about our country preSeptember 11, 2001 and how much has changed since. At the time, we generally went about our business, attending to our day-to-day lives, feeling secure in our own sense of safety within our nation. Extremist attacks only visible to the vast majority of us through highlights shown on the nightly news, and even then, happening only in far-away countries. Empathetic to the people who had to endure such difficult lives in those war-torn lands, of course… but the fear for our personal safety was not something that many of us had ever truly felt pre 9/11. Occasionally driving through areas of our cities that we deemed “unsafe”, walking through a dark parking garage, a noise awakening us from sleep in the night— those times may have been felt with a momentary fear, but nothing like what we felt in the wake of 9/11. Yet, throughout it all, we came together. Neighbors helped neighbors. Non-profits were formed seemingly instantly to put together a framework of help for those in need. One foot in front of the other, we made our way past that fateful day. A sense of pride to be an American was a new feeling for many of us where previously it had been taken for granted. Through tragedy, we became a stronger nation. Our cracks filling with golden threads. Our nation, once fragile, was now more connected, stronger, and in that process, more beautiful.
Each of us has gone through moments that we thought would break us. All of us individual and unique, those painful moments are different for every one of us. Whatever the tragedy, now that you are through it (if you are healed), I challenge you to think of just one thing that has come from it that has made you stronger, one lesson learned that has had an impact on your life. Perhaps a strengthening of some relationship that came as a result of an experience of undeniable pain. Admitting that there was something helpful or meaningful that came from this pain does not imply that you are glad to have gone through it. We are just looking for awareness of what life is now. This is an exercise in introspection, and through it, peace. A mental examination of our proverbial vessels and the cracks we have witnessed, a thorough inspection to see that we too have been filled with a few golden threads. A thing of beauty. Not intentionally created, but with time and wear, beautiful indeed.
Kintsugi is a Japanese word meaning “golden joinery” or “golden repair”. It is practiced as the art of repairing broken pottery by filling the cracks with a golden epoxy to create something entirely new, celebrated, and even more valuable. These mended and beautiful creations are cherished and are even stronger than the original pieces because of the framework of golden veins holding them together.
When recent events such as what happened in France a couple of weeks ago occur I think about our country preSeptember 11, 2001 and how much has changed since. At the time, we generally went about our business, attending to our day-to-day lives, feeling secure in our own sense of safety within our nation. Extremist attacks only visible to the vast majority of us through highlights shown on the nightly news, and even then, happening only in far-away countries. Empathetic to the people who had to endure such difficult lives in those war-torn lands, of course… but the fear for our personal safety was not something that many of us had ever truly felt pre 9/11. Occasionally driving through areas of our cities that we deemed “unsafe”, walking through a dark parking garage, a noise awakening us from sleep in the night— those times may have been felt with a momentary fear, but nothing like what we felt in the wake of 9/11. Yet, throughout it all, we came together. Neighbors helped neighbors. Non-profits were formed seemingly instantly to put together a framework of help for those in need. One foot in front of the other, we made our way past that fateful day. A sense of pride to be an American was a new feeling for many of us where previously it had been taken for granted. Through tragedy, we became a stronger nation. Our cracks filling with golden threads. Our nation, once fragile, was now more connected, stronger, and in that process, more beautiful.
Each of us has gone through moments that we thought would break us. All of us individual and unique, those painful moments are different for every one of us. Whatever the tragedy, now that you are through it (if you are healed), I challenge you to think of just one thing that has come from it that has made you stronger, one lesson learned that has had an impact on your life. Perhaps a strengthening of some relationship that came as a result of an experience of undeniable pain. Admitting that there was something helpful or meaningful that came from this pain does not imply that you are glad to have gone through it. We are just looking for awareness of what life is now. This is an exercise in introspection, and through it, peace. A mental examination of our proverbial vessels and the cracks we have witnessed, a thorough inspection to see that we too have been filled with a few golden threads. A thing of beauty. Not intentionally created, but with time and wear, beautiful indeed.