Kintsugi, meaning Golden Joinery in Japanese, is the art of repairing cracked or broken pottery with joinings of Gold or Silver. As a philosophy, if an object has been damaged, then it has more of a history and should therefore be celebrated and highlighted, rather than hidden or discarded. As a philosophy, Kintsugi is similar to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi – an embracing of the flawed or imperfect.
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Khalil Gibran
Kintsugi is a powerful metaphor for the human experience. We are the summary of our experiences – they allow us to grow. To make a mistake is to be human, to suffer damage is to be human, to wear our scars proudly is to celebrate the person we have become throughout a journey that will be filled with both joy and sadness. Both should be appreciated for the lessons in which we learn from them.
Those who have scars only become more powerful because of them. None of us get through life unscathed, and it is far less painful to display your scars than to continuously try to hide them. The Japanese art of Kintsugi is a powerful reminder to us that it does not matter if we are damaged. Once we have mended the pieces, we will be far more beautiful than ever before.
Retrieved from Kintsugi: The Philosophy Of Celebrating Damage – Conscious Panda on April 4, 2021