When life breaks you down, there is a new beauty to be found in healing and rebuilding…
Is it possible to be even more beautiful after being broken?
In Japan, the practice of kintsugi (meaning “golden joinery” or “golden rejoining”) takes broken ceramics and repairs them with a mixture of lacquer and gold, silver or platinum dust. Practiced since the late 15th century, the kintsugi technique has been used countless times to rebuild and resurrect damaged pottery transforming it into new and even more beautiful masterpieces.
Instead of seeing a broken vase as something that has been used up, good for nothing and ready to be discarded, the master kintsugi artist sees the potential in the shards of misfortune.
Image via Bloomingdales
The artist sees what is possible, rather than what is impossible.
Instead of an ending, the artist sees a new beginning.
As a philosophy, kintsugi treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to be disguised. Our wounds, trials, and heartaches need not be only destructive, but they can also be constructive. As we allow ourselves to heal and embrace our experiences as being part of who we are, we can begin to see the beauty in what we have become… cracks and all.
Image via kintsugi.jp
So, next time life breaks you down refuse to remain broken, and allow yourself to embrace a new, beautiful beginning!
XOXO
Melessa
Kim
November 14, 2017 at 7:29 amGreat message!
Beth
November 14, 2017 at 7:37 amSo gorgeous! Thanks for the great lesson!
Lillian
November 14, 2017 at 7:57 amWhat an awesome concept! And the result is so beautiful!
Melessa
November 16, 2017 at 7:02 pmI agree! It’s a wonderful visual to how we can evolve and be even more beautiful.
Jana
November 14, 2017 at 11:23 amI love this post! I do NOT like waste. This perspective helps me see that our trials aren’t a “waste”. We can make them beautiful! Thanks, Melessa.
Melessa
November 16, 2017 at 7:06 pmI agree, our trials are defiantly not a waist. They mold us into something even stronger and more beautiful if we let them. Thank you so much for commenting!
Heather Lindsay
November 15, 2017 at 2:48 pmI’ve heard this before but forgot all about it. I’m trying to embrace my new physical and emotional scars right now. Thank you for the reminder!
Melessa
November 16, 2017 at 7:25 pmI’m sorry you are going through a hard time right now. It’s not fun dealing with a trial, especially when it’s both a physical and mental battle. This is a beautiful reminder! Despite what we go through, we can be put back together. Everything we experience helps us become more beautiful, if we let it. Thanks for commenting!
Amy
November 17, 2017 at 11:11 amI love kintsugi and those examples you showed are gorgeous. Beauty from the battle.