Last week we reflected on Matthew Kelly’s book, Life Is Messy. In the book, Kelly describes kintsugi, the Japanese ceramic art form in which artists take broken pieces and glue them together again. The sentences below further explain Kelly’s understanding of kintsugi:
“They mix gold dust with the glue. They don’t try to hide the cracks. They own them, they honor them, even accentuate them by making them golden. They celebrate the cracks as part of their story. They don’t pretend the vase was never broken. They don’t pretend that life is not messy. They don’t pretend they are not broken. When we pretend to be someone other than who we are, our true self hides in fear and shame; the fear of being discovered and the shame of not being enough.”
Kintsugi art teaches us that:
“We are each other’s wounded healers. We possess the gold dust needed to glue other people back together, making them more beautiful and loveable than ever. Our love, acceptance, generosity, community and kindness are the gold dust.”
Reflection:
- Where have you experienced or witnessed situations in your life where kintsugi occurred, where brokenness was glued back together in a beautiful and loveable way?
- In what situations or relationships in your life would practicing kintsugi art be helpful?
Over the next few weeks, Wellness Wednesday will share stories of how kintsugi has occurred in human relationships. If you would like to share such a story, please send it to me.
From each of us at Top 20 Training…Kevin Brennan, Willow Sweeney, and Tom Cody…who are put together with golden dust.
Paul Bernabei
Director
Top 20 Training
paul@top20training.com
