KINTSUGI- Your Scars are What Makes You Beautiful

Photo Credits: Owner

Mistakes, failures, disappointments, all can be the most important and effective experience for us- this is what the Japanese art of Kintsugi or Kinkuroi teaches us in life.

Kintsugi or ‘to join with gold’ (Kin = gold ; Tsugi = joinery) is a method of pottery repair that honors the unique history of artifacts by highlighting, not hiding, the break. The repair method is done through reassembling the broken pieces carefully and then glued together with a golden lacquer. No attempt should be made to mask the damage, the point is to render the fault-lines beautiful and strong which transforms the artifact into something more unique, valuable and storied than the original. 

              

                                                                   

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Origins of Kintsugi

Kintsugi came about unintentionally when Ashikaga Yoshimasa, a ruler from the 15th century, broke his favourite tea bowl, he sent it for repair to China and was displeased that it came back stapled. The metal pins seemed hideous to him so the local craftsmen came up with the solution that didn’t disguise the damage, but made something creative out of it and prompted a whole new art form. 

The practice is related to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which calls for seeing beauty in the flawed or imperfect. The repair method was also born from the Japanese feeling of mottainai, which expresses regret when something is wasted, as well as mushin, the acceptance of change.

Photo Credits: Owner

Photo Credits: Owner

Why Kintsugi can be applied to our lives?

You are probably not expecting others to be perfect. You may actually appreciate people exposing their vulnerabilities, showing old wounds or admitting mistakes. Even so, although we are often relieved when others are truthful, we are afraid to be exposed. We see the honesty of other people about their imperfections as positive but we consider it much more problematic to admit our own failures.

It's evidence we're all fallible, that we're healing and growing, that we're surviving blows to the ego or our reputations or health, and that we can live to tell the tale. Acknowledging errors and displaying vulnerabilities, creates intimacy and trust in relationships, and fosters mutual understanding.

In you, vulnerability is courage but in me, inadequacy: that's totally wrong. Like the kintsugi craftsmen who long ago repaired the shogun's bowl with gold, imperfections are gifts to be treated with, not shames to be hidden with.

                                                              

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What you see as weakness is your strength...

It's absurd to be embarrassed by failures and mistakes in our lives because they occur to anyone and everyone, so there is no waste of experience. Things might fall apart. That’s life. But if you're smart, you can make use of every scrap, repair yourself, and keep going and that, is the way of life.

When we expect everything and everyone, including ourselves, to be perfect, we not only dismiss much of what is beautiful, but we create a bitter world where resources are wasted, people 's positive qualities are overlooked in pursuit of their flaws, and our standards become unlikely to be limiting, confined and harmful.

Kintsugi teaches us, metaphorically, that you won’t realize your true potential until you go through the tough times. Whether you’re going through the loss of a loved one or a job, or are recovering from an injury, divorce or other personal tragedy, Kintsugi can be a way to reframe hardships to remind yourself that you’re not a victim of your circumstances — and to help you come out the other side stronger.

After all, we are all broken… and that’s how the light gets in!