Do you have a favorite pottery bowl or plate? Imagine that it fell off the tabletop and shattered into several pieces. You’d probably be upset because it’s your precious pottery, and also, you have a lot of cleaning up to do. Your first thought would probably be to throw out the plate because it’s broken. But what if you could fix it and turn it into something even more beautiful? Here I introduce, the Art of Kintsugi.
The Meaning of Kintsugi
Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is the Japanese method of repairing pottery. Unlike usual repairing, you mend the broken areas with lacquer and top it off with some gold dust. Some of the translations include golden joinery, golden repair, or even ‘to join with gold’.
The Idea behind Kintsugi
This golden joinery not only puts broken pottery pieces back together, making them useful again, but it also teaches us to embrace the flaws and imperfections. Although the pottery will no longer be perfect like the way it used to be, it can still be useful and might look even more beautiful with its newly-added golden veins. The broken pottery is given a second life as the golden seams make it a unique piece of art.
What we can learn from Kintsugi
As the famous saying goes, nobody is perfect. We all have our flaws. But that doesn’t make us any less unique. If we can embrace our flaws and any broken edges, we might become even more beautiful than we already are. By putting together all your broken pieces and join them in gold, you become one of a kind and elegantly stunning. Appreciate yourself for who you are and embrace your flaws to become the most beautiful version of yourself.
In Conclusion
Besides appreciating your strengths, you should also embrace your flaws. Like Kintsugi, you can repair yourself whenever you break down and become stronger and better each time. Your flaws are what make you unique and stunningly beautiful.
