Originally Published April 19, 2022

Voilà! Out of all the golden nuggets that you may pick up from doom-scrolling at this moment, this one might crack you up. Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of putting broken pieces back together and making beauty out of them. This practice dates back to the 15th century when ceramics were extremely valuable during the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Back in the day, Samurais could be executed if they destroyed an expensive artifact. Reassembling items is even more pricey as they had to ship the dinnerware back to China. Out of clumsiness, a Shogun named Ashikaga Yoshimasa came up with the idea of rejoining the facets of a teacup back together using the sap of a lacquer tree called Urushi and highlighting the cracks with gold—to accentuate fractures and fissures of the vessel.

In these cracks lie our stories. Primarily, you have to polish the edges of the pieces to ensure that there is no more pain and no more danger. Howbeit, you must not use a transparent adhesive to guarantee that its flaws are clearly visible. Contrary to the beauty that most of us know, it does not try to hide any damage with disguise. It is the exact opposite of the European way of symmetry and perfection. Despite it not blending with western art, it figuratively and quite literally fits the alignment of contemporary art and the 21st-century lifestyle, underlining the perception of the broken as more precious than the pristine.

Like our memories, every piece of the vessel is unique and there is no specific technique for mending it. You can choose any tool to craft the fragments like patching wounds with bondages. By admitting mistakes you begin to admire its debris. Healing and affinity are impossible without embracing the entirety of you in shambles. Whether you are recovering from injury, trauma, addiction, heartbreak, or shattered dreams, you are meant to rise from falling into a downward spiral. Affirmation of scars will reframe experiences to rewire the brain and see the positive instead of the negative. Life is but harmonious, seamless, and flawless. It is transient in nature. This is how an eastern art form brings joy in the last 100 years—honoring, appreciating, and celebrating the vulnerable blemishes that represent our fragility.

Kintsugi takes a lot of precision, humility, and patience as it aims to make something more valuable than its previous form. No big or tiny detail is ever irrelevant. It is more of a craft than an art. Pottery is the art, repair is the craft. It renews the purpose of the vessel more than just utility. It is reborn with a deeper meaning and it is the breakage that adds longevity to a weathered object’s history.

Metaphorically referred to as an extension of the Wabi-Sabi philosophy, the Zen masters believe that lifeforce resides in all creations. This means that what's extraordinary is not what is perfect but what is simple. Seeing defects as scenery that has to be fixed and not to be swept under the rug. With this, we allow pain to fortify us. After so much time, you are a masterpiece and your own life's work.

In case you don’t have porcelain to smash, practice gratitude, to begin with. Kintsugi also embodies living in the present moment and not wishing for things you don’t have. Also, reflect on your resilience as you pull together fragments of yourself. Like the silver linings, it’s in the cracks where the light shines in. Lastly, it is not the end of the road. All things are destined to deteriorate and be broken someday. Remember: nothing lasts, nothing is finished and nothing is perfect. When we don't know how to repair then how would solidarity be possible? As we diminish, we flourish—as communities, as countries, as a world. For your golden ticket, check out Bonnie Kemske’s book on Kintsugi which was just released last year!

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