Kintsugi, or Kintsukiroi, is a Japanese art form. The artist repairs broken pieces of pottery with silver or gold. The finished pieces then become more beautiful, and more valuable, than the vessel was before being broken. I’m fascinated by this art form, and by the resonant truth it brings to life.

Profoundly difficult experiences have a way of making us feel broken. Kintsugi shows us that broken and damaged are not the same; that having to be put back together does not make us less than we once were. On the contrary, we become something else entirely. Something singular. Something rare. Stronger at the broken places.

It reminds me that there is something better than perfection. Without having been broken, we would never have the wondrous, sacred experience of repairing ourselves – of being both the artist, and the vessel.

The image above is an example of Kintsugi, used with the kind permission of Morty Borchar, Lakeside Pottery Studios. Their beautiful work can be found at www.lakesidepottery.com.