G'Tis the season....for
Wabi-Sabi. For those of you who aren't
familiar with this term, it is a Japanese aesthetic honoring and
celebrating the beauty of imperfection. Wow, what an amazing reframing
of our obsession with perfection, especially during the holiday season!
I have written about the concept of
wabi-sabi on this blog and you may want to read some of the
archived posts. I recently came across another wonderful Japanese term, related to the essence o
f
wabi-sabi called
kintsugi ("golden joinery").
Kintsugi
is the centuries-old Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a
special lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. Instead
of discarding treasures when they become broken, they are repaired
with jewel-like metal; acknowledging, with visibility, that while they
may have once been broken they are now strengthened, and more valuable
because of their repair. What a message of resilience not just for
pottery but for ourselves. Repairing with gold the scars of a life
well-lived as a indication of resilience is a metaphor that I can
wholeheartedly embrace.
Will you join me this holiday season in
using the gold and silver glittering decorations as reminders to engage
in the practice
wabi-sabi and
kintsugi? Let's celebrate the beauty of imperfection and acknowledge the strength and courage of repairing adversity with gold.
Happy Holidays...wishing you a month of celebrating wabi-sabi and kintsugi,
Pam