Let me tell you a story about brokenness and repair.
Approximately six centuries ago, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa of Japan broke his favorite tea bowl. The bowl was treasured and irreplaceable. Instead of throwing it away, he sent the pieces to China for repair. When the bowl was returned stapled together, the Shogun found it non-functional and unaesthetic. He asked his artisans to make something beautiful from the broken bits, but without disguising the damage. This was the origin of the Japanese art of kintsugi, which consists of using broken pottery fragments to make a new object held together by lacquer mixed with gold dust. The result draws attention to the flaws, transforming the original fractured object into a new and beautiful one.
As a philosophy, kintsugi emerged from the Zen and Mahayana Buddhist traditions, which teach us to embrace our fragility and imperfections. Kintsugi reminds us that our wounds do not destroy us but can be a source of meaning, strength, and resilience. As an approach to life, kintsugi is linked to the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi, which recognizes the impermanence and imperfection of all things.
In the West, we prioritize other values. As a culture of strivers, we are encouraged to avoid failure at all costs, which leads us to pursue standards that do not always match our unique needs and desires. This sets us up for the trap of perfectionism.
Nothing in nature is perfect. What is a perfect apple? A perfect rose? A perfect turtle or river or shell? Commercial interests persuade us we have to have a........