In our current age when a bowl, mug or teapot falls into many pieces our instinct is to throw it away. The Japanese approach damaged potteries with a different mindset.
The Japanese Kintsugi gathers the broken vessels, glues the broken parts together with the lacquer resin and then highlights the breaks with either gold, silver or platinum.
The repaired vessel turns out looking better than the original vessel. This is what strikes me most about this art.
How can you make beauty out of that, which is broken and considered ‘’no more useful’’? How do you bring together parts that have been separated with a golden joining in such a manner that the broken lines which once caused frowning and regret upon falling now become lines to be admired?
A lot of times when we are breaking down, it is so hard to pick ourselves back up. Like broken pieces, we are so weak that we almost let go and settle to the ground where we fell. The art of Kintsugi teaches us to pick ourselves up, put ourselves together and find strength in areas where we’ve been broken. It teaches us to accept the cracks and scars that life’s challenges put on us while seeing the flaws as beautiful. It teaches us to see beauty in our imperfections.
How can you make beauty out of that, which is broken and considered ‘’no more useful’’? How do you bring together parts that have been separated with a golden joining in such a manner that the broken lines which once caused frowning and regret upon falling now become lines to be admired?
A lot of times when we are breaking down, it is so hard to pick ourselves back up. Like broken pieces, we are so weak that we almost let go and settle to the ground where we fell. The art of Kintsugi teaches us to pick ourselves up, put ourselves together and find strength in areas where we’ve been broken. It teaches us to accept the cracks and scars that life’s challenges put on us while seeing the flaws as beautiful. It teaches us to see beauty in our imperfections.
