Beauty in brokenness

Beauty in brokenness.

The pottery in the photo attached reminds me of the Japanese art form Kintsugi

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art.

I have been thinking a lot about Kintsugi lately. Thinking about what constitutes broken pieces, and what makes something whole. Whether one version of a whole is inherently better or if they are all perfectly formed.

It can be easy to focus in on aspects of ourselves that we perceive to be ‘ flawed’ and ‘broken’ (mind, body, soul or spirit) and get stuck there. To see our lives as ‘less than’ or not reaching the ‘promise’ we expected.

When the truth is, each of us are inherently precious, just as we are, lived experience and all. Everything we have lived, all the choices we have made, allow us to be the one of a kind expression of humanity that we are.

I’m not in anyway suggesting that heartache and pain, mistreatment or traumatic experiences were necessary so we could be who we are today - that’s not how I choose to interpret - ‘He is the potter, we are the clay’. More that through our lived experience we have the opportunity and ability to discover, grow and know truths that can shape our lives and bring our inherent beauty forward.

Learning to know and understand ourselves, on a deep level why we are who we are, why we do what we do, opens our perspective and expands our choices. It is a rewarding and worthwhile practice to embrace.

This is a huge chunk of the ‘Reimagining You’ story.

We literally don’t know what we don’t know until we do. And once we do we can give ourselves permission to choose what to do with this new information / understanding and / or truth.

Will new understanding change us? Yes, by definition once we know something we can’t un know it.

Will it have an impact on us? Yes it will, each new piece of the puzzle informs the whole.

What type of impact will it have on us? Well that totally depends … on what the information is, when we learn it and what we choose to do with it.

If we choose to actively engage with the information, taking time to research, process and understand its relevance to us, then we can make informed choices.

If we choose not to engage, regardless of the reason, then this is also a choice with its own possibilities and risks.

A wise counselor once told me that there are no wrong decisions, just decisions made with the information we have at any given time and that we can freely choose to reassess and adjust our choice at any future time when new information or understanding comes to light.

We are not fixed beings set in concrete or stone. We do not need to live our lives stuck in ruts or controlled by ‘younger parts’ that sensibly disconnected to survive, but still run protection duty anytime we are triggered.

We don’t have to live with our ‘broken records of lies or failures’ on replay. Our brains are smart and efficient, they can rewire and make new healthy connections.

We are living breathing beings who are able to sift and effectively discern and come to understand new information that is presented to us.

We can learn and we can grow. We can use the experiences of our lives and those around us, to create momentum and change, mind, body, soul and spirit.

Each day is a new day. Each new day we have a choice. We can choose to engage or disengage.

We can choose to take the reins or live on auto pilot. We can choose to be open to new ways of knowing or stay fixed and stuck.

It is our choice, no strings attached, no pressure. We have a choice each and every day. Some days are curl up in a ball hugging our pillow days, some days are I just need to get through today on autopilot, and some days are days when we can be open and available to take a chance, grow, learn, live and love.

‘Reimagining You’ is here to support you on your journey, regardless of which kind of day you are having. It is here for us to live, learn, make new discoveries together and bring out the inherent beauty in each of our lives.