Beauty in Brokenness

It is more beautiful for having been broken. They don’t tell you this.

They tell you to hide the cracks, to present a perfect, unbroken surface to the world.

But in the quiet workshops of ancient Japan, they practice an art called *Kintsugi*.

When a treasured piece of pottery shatters, they don’t throw it away.

They gather the fragments. And with a lacquer mixed with pure gold,

they painstakingly bind the pieces back together. The purpose is not to hide the damage.

The purpose is to illuminate it. The bowl is now laced with rivers of gold,

each line a testament to its history, a map of its survival. Now, think of your own