You might feel when you’re broken you’re beyond repair, but here’s an alternative perspective.
In the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, a broken piece of pottery is fixed and the cracks filled with gold. Rather than disguise the damage that appears after a sudden or unexpected drop, they’re accentuated and made into something beautiful.

Kintsugi has become a great analogy for what can happen to us when life breaks our spirit. The damage is there; you can’t hide it. We may break many times in our lifetime even, shattering any pretence we’re perfect beings, yet these imperfections are what make us. Fill those cracks with gold instead of leaving them empty and jagged, and you can celebrate getting through the toughest times and even see beauty in them. You survived! And look at you now ― stronger, reinforced, and branching off on your own unique path.
“A break is something to remember, something of value, a way to make the piece more beautiful, rather than something to disguise. They use gold, not invisible superglue because mistakes shouldn’t be considered ugly.”
(Quote often attributed to Penny Reid)
If you’d like to learn more about Kintsugi, speak with Cornish artist Jon White who in 2022 became the UK’s first certified Kintsugi instructor.
Kintsugi bowl image credit: BBC Travel
