Hello and welcome to another thought I had. Sorry it's been a while since I've last written for you guys. I've been very busy with my first internship. But that’s a whole other story for you to be told later. Today's topic is a word I happened to stumble upon on my twitter timeline. Kintsukuroi.
Kintsugi (金継ぎ?) (Japanese: golden joinery) or Kintsukuroi (金繕い?) (Japanese: golden repair) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique. As a philosophy it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.
You may be wondering what I found so inspiring about this art form. Well the fact that it recognizes the understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken. To me, that symbolizes the fact that there is beauty in everything and everyone for their cracks, scrapes, missing pieces, flaws basically. This is a fact that so many people fail to understand, or to try and understand at least.
What makes ruined ancient temples so attractive to tourists? They're old and broken down and barely holding it together, on the verge of completely falling apart. Yet, people take the time to travel from all across the globe to see them. Why is that? Because behind every ruined statue, every fallen pillar, every collapsed wall and ceiling, and in every single crack in those temples, there is history. A story to be told. A fact to be known. A memory passed on to the coming generations after generations for as long as the remains of that temple exist. Now I don't know about you guys, but I think that is incredibly beautiful. To tie this to kintsukuroi, ancient artifacts or temples or any sort of piece of history are kept intact as they were found by preservation experts. You can always still see the cracks, but it's to keep the authenticity and to remind people that the artifact has been through times that no living person has. Maybe it could possibly reveal what happened during those times and even tell us a story about the people who were in possession of the artifact. There is a story in everything, new and old, intact or broken.
So based on that, what do you think makes a person beautiful? Looks are what catches the eye, but what makes people really take a good look at other people? What turns their heads? What makes them stare? Flaws. People with scars are always looked at. Unfortunately, some people see the scar in a negative manner. They see it as something that has ruined the look of a person. I beg to differ. Scars are there for a reason. If you have a scar, don't you always remember the story behind it? I have a scar on my knee. And it’s a memory I haven't forgotten until now, even though I got it when I was very young, maybe 5 years old or so. To me, scars are reminders that stay with us. They remind us that we have been through an injury, pain, and that we have healed. They are a reminder that we are human and that we can be frail sometimes, but that we are also strong because we chose to get up and start the healing process.
So don't be ashamed of your scars, visible or not. Your scars make you all the more beautiful. They add to your story. They show that you lived. And they remind you to be thankful that you are alive. A broken heart isn't forever either. Think of your broken heart as a piece of Japanese pottery that has been shattered. What you need is your own kintsugi expert to mend your heart with gold and make it even more beautiful than before. It's not an impossible occurrence. It also doesn't have to be a lover. It could be anything. If it’s the expert your heart needs then it will come to you. Who knows? Maybe you might end up being your own kintsugi expert. You just have to muster up the courage to seek kintsurukoi. Be brave enough to let people in and see your broken heart. Let your heart find its mender. Let people know the history in the cracks of your heart. Let them see just how beautiful you are.
I hope you all benefited from this piece. It’s a new kind for me but I enjoyed writing it. I plan on doing more pieces about words that inspire me. Don't forget to leave me comments and tell me what you think be it your thoughts on my posts or what you want to read about next time. Subscribe to be told whenever I post and follow me on my social media links to see what I do when I'm not writing for you. Love you guys and I'll see you next Thursday! Hue Mann, over and out!! ;)