Kintsugi

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. ~ Ernest Hemingway

This quote is often associated with the Japanese art of mending ceramics, Kintsugi. It literary translated to "joining with gold". It is a form of art that revolves around Zen Buddhist philosophy of  Wabi-Sabi. Wabi-Sabi is an eastern philosophy, the exact translation of which in the western form is rather difficult. It is an idea of accepting the imperfection and transience. The sentiment is, the reflection of that experience and hardship adds on an admirable aesthetic. The bad times and sufferings in life can be repressed but, what has happened cannot be eliminated from the timeline. Wabi-Sabi offers a solution in the form of acceptance.  

In an age that worships youth, perfection, and newness, the art of kintsugi inspires us to appreciate damage, imperfections, and scars within our self and around. It is to get in terms with the sufferings and accept the facts in life that, suffering is inevitable. The Art of kintsugi inspires us to embrace our own brokenness and appreciate what it has shaped us as. 

In the vlog below, I talk about the Philosophy of the  kintsugi and how it represents the Ideas of Wabi-Sabi (It was published last year on my YouTube space)

At this point, I want to talk about something that is close to my heart. My purple coffee mug. It has been my most loyal companion since forever (figuratively). It is a beauty. It has been with me through sickness and health since 2004 2005 (wow! that was a long time ago). Moreover, it was practically my most satisfying relationship. Until this year, late in January. 

I was walking down the stairs, carrying a hand-full of books in one hand and clutching my laptop under my arm and holding my beloved coffee mug in my other hand. I admit I should have been more careful but I was not. sadly I slipped. The only thing I wanted to save was my coffee mug. (yeah! laptop, you read it right. you were not my priority)

I couldn't save it, readers. It broke. I cried and cried and then tried to rescue it with superglue but I failed. I now possess the glued pieces of my mug waiting to be fixed with kintsugi, one day... The day, I often daydream about. 

Somewhere in the golden future when the world is a better place for all. When the weather is fixed and governments are not corrupt. Somewhere in future where people read more think more and talk about ideas (not other people). In an ideal world where trust is regained and life is worth living ... I often think about that time. When I will get my mug fixed with kintsugi I will look at it and be awestruck and think how beautiful life is, after all. I will smile at the mug and say  "After all this time?" and the mug will whisper back to me "Always!" (#Potterheads, am I right?)

When I and my Mug will be reunited, in future. I picture us on a fine sunny morning in October. I will be stretched on the deck of my yacht. Reading poetry by Emily Dickinson and my Mug in my hand filled with the most exquisite coffee. We will be sailing towards Antarctica...

PS. We will board a bigger ship before the Drake Passage because I don't want to wreck by yacht. Duh! 

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