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“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” ―  Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms

By Kristina Pfenning

It is inevitable that precious things in our lives will break.  From relationships to your favorite coffee mug, somewhere along the way something you feel connected to will shatter and for a moment, take your breath away. You may mourn since the broken thing is no longer what it once was but you do not need to toss it out in a moment of despair. If you have a cherished piece of ceramic or pottery, the Japanese art of Kintsugi (金継ぎ, “golden joinery”) may be the next step in the life of that plate you adore or the coffee mug your kid gave you last year. Kintsugi uses gold lacquer to repair cracks or breaks with the intention of highlighting the imperfection as a nod to the object’s history rather than trying to disguise it as if the break had never occurred.

It is related to the philosophy of Wabi-sabi(侘寂) which embraces transience, simplicity, and imperfection as integral processes of the natural world. As author Richard Powell, puts it, there are three simple realities, “…nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect.”

So if you don’t feel like parting with a broken heirloom or treasured tea cup, embrace entropy and give Kintsugi a try.  Here is a  link to Amazon Kintsugi repair kits and there is a nice little tutorial here at Invaluable.com.