The Beauty Of Kintsukuroi

I learned and experienced a lot in my travels to Japan. I had the opportunity to visit some beautiful Buddhist temples in Kyoto, to get lost in the streets of Shinjuku, and climb through some gorgeous scenery at Mt. Takao. Perhaps, though, the most profound and important lesson I learned in my time in Japan was of the art and philosophy of Kintsukuroi.

Kintsukuroi is the Japanese art of repairing pottery. For the Japanese, it is not enough to just simply repair pottery and make it look brand new like it’s never been broken before. In the art of Kintsukuroi, the idea is for the blemishes and cracks not to be hidden, but rather to be illuminated. The understanding here is that the piece should be even morebeautiful after it has been broken; therefore, they repair the pottery with gold or silver lacquer to truly make these cracks and breaks flourish, to make you say, “Wow!”

The eventual finished piece, of course, is beautiful. If you’ve ever seen a “broken” bowl lacquered with gold, it is something special, (so special, in fact, that many Japanese craftsmen in the late 15th century were accused of deliberately shattering pottery so that they may repair it in the art of Kintsukuroi), but to myself and many others, the philosophy of the art is far more beautiful. Kintsukuroi has many similarities to the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, which is to embrace and love the flawed and imperfect. Showcasing the cracks in a “broken” bowl or cup with gold and silver is a metaphor that all things, even bad, are simply a normal part of an object (life), so rather than throwing it away (depression, suicide), it is made even more beautiful (finding strength and meaning in hurt).

Sure, you can throw your proverbial tea-pot away because it has been shattered and broken in the past. Or you can make your tea-pot shine brighter than ever before. Just like those 15th century Japanese craftsmen who purposefully broke their ceramics only to repair them using Kintsukuroi, you don’t have to just deal with your past pain, but you can be proud of it, shining and becoming more beautiful as a result of having been broken. You can actually be happy that it ever happened! The choice is yours.

Show off your scars, let them shine like gold lining a pot, learn from your pain, allow it to be seen like silver holding together a shattered bowl. Become a better person as a result from all the damage that has been done to you in your past using the philosophy of Kintsukuroi.

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Travis is a life coach working with you to Define your life purpose, Exceed Your Potential and Create the life of your dreams.

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Music by Ryan Bradley
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