Kintsugi (金継ぎ), meaning “golden joinery,” is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using gold. It restores functionality to a broken vessel, and not only adds beauty and worth, it turns destruction and damage into the most valuable part of the piece. The scars of the past are not erased or hidden away, to be ashamed of – they are transformed, immortalized in gold.
How many times have I felt as if I could hold no more water – like a dry cistern? How many times have I felt parched as dust from a cracked vessel? As many times as I have felt like pieces of me have been lost or torn away, and as many times as I have cried over how broken I have become. Yet, with time, patience, hard work, and the touch of a Master craftsman, I may yet be restored.
A reminder for us all. Yes, life changes us, even sometimes breaks us. But those breaks can be stronger and more beautiful if we heal them with art. Fill the breaks with poetry, paint the cracks with art. Take the time and be stronger for it.
Thank you for this. I needed to see it today.
I first reblogged this post by another in December 2012. I’m reblogging it again today, just over a year later, on January 1, 2014. I just emailed this photograph of repaired pottery with beautiful words to my sister with the subject line, “We’re glued back together with GOLD.” She needed to read it too, because of this text reply she sent to me earlier today, “Yup all the pieces are coming back together. I can see they are being glued carefully into place. So proud of you. That may seem silly but i am.” Silly only because she is my younger sister, but not silly at all. I assured her I understood completely, and added that she and I are stronger together, connected by our “all in” ginormous hearts, even though we’ve made our homes many states apart. Life goes on and so do we, wearing cowgirl boots with sass and kickass, though we have pleasing manners too. ‘Cause we’re Gary’s Girls and Patty Sunshine’s too. Damn straight. 2014 is The Year of the Horse and we’re ready to run the race, while setting our own pace.
January 1, 2014
Turquoise Tangles 