Recently I came across the Japanese concept of Kintsugi – the art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with gold. The scars, cracks, and imperfections are treated as part of history rather than being disguised. It is a reminder to stay optimistic when things fall apart and to celebrate the flaws and missteps of life.

Our lives may be far from perfect, and if we reflect on it, we go to great lengths to cover up the cracks and hide our faults. The stress of constantly looking good can often make us oversensitive and sometimes egoistic. The pressure of ‘how will it look’ and ‘what will people say’, often robs us of the precious joy of life. When we learn to fix and embrace our imperfections, life changes.

Our vulnerabilities are not a weakness, they could be a source of strength to others who may be going through something similar, but may not have the courage to express it. Sharing our stories of change has the power to change people around us. The internal and external scars that we may have lived with, and the way we made, or are making efforts to fix them makes us the beautiful person that we are. Our stories of change don’t need to be hidden, they need to be celebrated.

Broken things can be fixed. The knocks of life can often break things in our life – relationships, finances, health, and sometimes even our spirit. It is not what is broken that defines us, it is how we fix it that distinguishes us. Celebrating how we fixed things rather than regretting why they broke, can be a huge source of inspiration to others and ourselves as well.

When we use our sheer willpower, focus, dedication, and most importantly faith, to repair the broken things in our life, we realise that the gold to fix life lies within us. When we accept ourselves and don’t hide, but celebrate the cracks and imperfections we have repaired, we would have found the Kintsugi in our life.

(Picture – Near Raffles Place, Singapore)