Once upon a time, there was a beautiful piece of porcelain pottery perched near the edge of a shelf. In an attempt to move it, a person (not me, thank goodness) broke off a piece, reducing its value significantly. If only this had happened in Japan, then perhaps the pottery would have been fortunate enough to experience “Kintsugi.” Or the art of putting pieces of broken pottery back together using gold. In the natural world, we can also see examples of new form emerging from old. Even in an old and broken tree, new layers of bark can still appear to bind and heal.
Plants play a role in Kintsugi, as a special sap, dusted with gold, is used in the bonding of the broken pieces back together. The repair becomes an integral part of the history of the object. The lesson being that what’s created becomes unique and valuable, and in a way, even more beautiful than the original. Kintsugi becomes a metaphor for embracing our imperfections – reminding us that what we use in repair only adds value to the result. Value meaning wisdom and new-found resiliency. The bowls in a set of pottery, will not break in the same ways. Repairing them using the art of Kintsugi, they become a new set of unique pieces of creation. Perhaps another metaphor for us to remember.
In our writing, I like to think of the process of revision as repairing what we’ve written by using the creative gold of “second sight” - that is, seeing how to put the text back together to form an even more powerful image, character, or story. When I’m working on a poem, there are times I purposely “break” it. Moving lines about randomly reversing word order, beginning with the ending, and so on. Looking at the “broken text” helps me see new options for putting the poem back together again. The precious gold of creativity - you have it! Embrace it, create, recreate, and remember to celebrate the outcome.
Photo credit: Dee Stribling Creative
Supporting articles:
How the Japanese art of Kintsugi can help you deal with stressful situations