Kintsugi is a way of mending broken pottery in Japan with lacquer dusted with gold or silver powder. It is recognizing, allowing, acknowledging and celebrating a crack or what might be seen as a flaw, but is an imperfection that joins all humanity... we are all imperfect which is part of what MAKES us human. I believe we are in this human life to grow and expand which requires some kinks along the way, and maybe even some suffering... so our suffering can be purposeful, which is encouraging and reminds me to be with suffering so that it is not wasted. It contributes to my heart's expansion and compassion.
One nice excerpt from this article:
Today, extremely strong and barely visible epoxies and other repair compounds exist – but none add value to the pottery the way kintsugi does. If the perfect repair is done and the pottery looks as good as new. That is well and good, but it is also no better than a brand new mass produced item.Again, same for humans. With age comes experience. With failures comes wisdom. Instead of hankering for a clean slate, forever wishing to take back one’s old mistakes, grasping for something different, we should instead highlight ourselves, flaws and all in large bold gold letters and become more beautiful for it.In doing so, by practicing the philosophy that kintsugi so perfectly encapsulates, we find that ourselves and our lives suffice and is innately wonderful.
