The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.
Ernest Hemingway
Kintsugi (which translates to ‘golden joinery’) is a Japanese art form that uses lacquer mixed with gold to repair broken pottery. The idea is not to hide the breakage, but to celebrate it – the restoration becomes part of the history of the object. The results are extraordinary.
It is inevitable that when we choose to take risks, not all of them will work out as we hope. That’s OK. We are defined as much by the lessons we learn from our mistakes and failures as we are by the things that go well.
Sometimes when we get it wrong, we fall down and scrape our knees. Other times might bruise your soul or break your heart.
No matter.
In the words of the Japanese proverb:
“Fall down seven times, get up eight.”
And like a beautiful piece of kintsugi, wear your scars proudly.
