Resilience: the ability to rise up despite difficulties, to respond to life’s challenges.Being resilient means to heal wounds with gold.
Is there a better metaphor than kintsugi to express such a concept?
Kintsugi, or kintsukuroi, (in kanji 金 継 ぎ, which respectively mean “gold” 金 and “adjust” 継 ぎ, literally “adjust with gold”) is an ancient Japanese art form. This practice consists in repairing ceramic objects, and in particular pottery, through the use of liquid gold or a special lacquer with gold dust.
According to the legend, kintsugi was invented in the 15th century, when the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa ordered artisans to repair his favourite teacup avoiding, if possible, the use of the canonical repair technique that required the use of staples to reunite the various fragments.
The potters in charge thought of gluing the shards using a resin sprinkled with gold dust, resulting in an object whose value was even increased.
Kintsugi values imperfections and has many similarities with the wabi-sabi (which provides for the acceptance of imperfections) and mushin (linked to the concepts of acceptance of change and destiny).
Sometimes it is impossible not to fall, not to shatter.The inevitable doesn’t count, but what really has a value is the ability to see a new life, a hope in the shards and have the strength to cover the cracks with gold, to know how to draw the best of ourselves in the moment of supreme difficulty.
Kintsugi is a magnificent metaphor, a fascinating subject, but above all a teaching that everyone must preserve.
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