kintsugi

Sometimes things break.

And sometimes you try to fix them because you want to recreate something that was, but is no longer.

But no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, those pieces just can’t be put back together in the way they were.

And you will try, because change is hard to accept sometimes, but there will  still be fault lines, and cracks, along edges that were once strong, and flawless.

In Japanese culture when something breaks, gold is used to fix the broken bits. It is believed that broken is better than new. It’s an art called Kintsugi and it means ‘golden joinery’.

It’s a beautiful notion.

Suddenly something can become whole again. The broken bits are lined with gold, and are even more beautiful than before, because of the very fact that they broke. And maybe those fault lines, or cracks, actually provide extra strength, extra beauty, and extra uniqueness.

We all have scars. We all have flaws. We all have broken bits.

We all have a story to tell, if we feel it needs to be told. We all have learnt great lessons. We all have smiled, laughed, cried, and we all have felt broken. We share all of these things, and yet we are all different. Our journeys, our lessons, and our experiences, cannot be compared.

It’s only in the face of adversity, only when things are broken, that we have this very incredible opportunity to recreate ourselves, and to line our broken edges, with gold.

It’s a very delicate process. The fragility of dealing with all of those pieces can be too frustrating, too cumbersome.

There are sharp bits, jagged bits, and pieces that don’t seem to fit. You might cut yourself, or feel too much irritation to continue. It might hurt and you might feel like giving up. But if you stick with it, as you slowly work, you will begin to see progress. And you will begin to see beauty, where once you saw pain. That is the journey – it is part of healing something, and turning it into a beautiful work of art.

Perhaps we can line our broken bits with gold. Perhaps we can put the pieces back together to create something stronger, something more beautiful, and something more real. Perhaps we should celebrate our scars, and feel grateful for the lessons they have taught us. And if we can do these things, perhaps we will then see that those broken bits are actually better than when they were new. They reflect our growth, our change, our adaptability, and our lessons. Those parts of us are strong, and wise, and beautiful and bring to us many, many qualities that shine and glimmer even in the darkest light.