The Magic of the Ancient Art of Kintsugi

Overcoming obstacles, transcending them, and learning from each experience, strengthens us and allows us to develop a quality necessary for our survival: Resilience.

Healing our wounds, restoring them, repairing our being, requires a large dose of self-love to slowly unite the pieces that remain after being overwhelmed by adverse circumstances that break us from the inside and destroy our self-esteem. Learning from the Japanese culture their ancient art called Kintsugi, teaches us how it is possible to become a better version of who we are.

The Kintsugi teaches us to cover our scars with gold, to become a very valuable piece. This Japanese technique repairs broken porcelain with gold and is a perfect representation of what it means to rebuild, recycle, repair, restore ourselves after our soul is broken by a resounding and painful fall, to learn to see beauty beyond what is evident.

Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art that teaches us to repair valuable broken pieces, to make them priceless pieces. It means gold splicing. It is related to the Japanese philosophy of 'wabi-sabi,' which is based on seeing beauty in imperfection. "This method of repair also has to do with the feeling that the Japanese call 'mottainai,' lamenting when something is wasted; as well as 'mushin,' accept change," so we can link it with resilience.

When we relate resilience with this technique, it becomes evident the fact of learning to see the positive, in what is apparently catastrophic, disastrous, chaotic, or unfavorable, to accept change and learn from experiences and emerge stronger from them. In this way, when we learn to put our pieces together and on the unions, we put a lot of love, acceptance, willpower, and discipline to continue, it is as if we were putting gold threads in the unions of each fragment. Therefore, learn to move forward despite the circumstances and learn from experiences. it makes us better human beings; it makes us invaluable beings.

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Resilience is the art of coming out strengthened from those painful and difficult experiences, it is the art of rising like the phoenix from the flames to shine again, it is the art of recycling ourselves and leaving restored.

We are not what happens to us, we are what we do with what happens to us, there lies the difference. Many people may go through similar situations, but what differentiates the results, is the way we manage to manage each situation.

Resilience is a skill that can be acquired and cultivated from infancy if there is a conscious education on the part of caregivers. Allowing children to resolve their problems and conflicts from a young age develops management skills and strengthens their self-esteem to face the challenges that life imposes on them in an assertive way. In conclusion, we must learn to lovingly restore ourselves and teach children to do so, to make each life an invaluable and unparalleled work of art despite the circumstances however difficult they may seem.