Louise Thompson: Them's the breaks

I have come across a beautiful and timeless Japanese art called “kintsukuroi”: the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold. Cracked and shattered items are lovingly pieced back together and the cracks flooded with gold. The piece is no longer perfect, but its repair is proudly on view in precious metal, integral to its new form, which only serves to makes the piece more beautiful — not despite its breaks, but because of them.

The deeper spiritual meaning of this art is to consider: what if we saw ourselves the same way? That we all go through astonishing heartbreak and life explosions, from which we will never be quite the same. There will be wounds, and we might try to hide them but they are there.

We might think we are no longer as good, or as worthy, or we are tarnished in some way once the storms of life hit and we are no longer box-fresh perfect.

But what if we believe that we are not just okay for having a few breaks along the way but that we are more beautiful because of them? That our beauty actually lies within our imperfection and our transcendence of life’s slings and arrows? That our uniqueness, flaws, scars, idiosyncrasies, are an integral part of the fabric that makes us imperfectly perfect? That our survival and our ability to prevail in the case of hardship adds depth and richness?

This is life. Not one of us gets out without being a bit battered along the way, and screwing up a few times ourselves. No one, anywhere, at any time, has lived a perfect life. Maybe it’s time to see perfectionism for the mirage it is.

We are all good people, doing the best we can with what we have and what we know. And you know what — that’s perfectly good enough.

What say you? Ready to relinquish the mirage of perfection for a little kintsukuroi? We are all worthy, not despite of the breaks we have experienced, but because of them.

Life coach Louise Thompson helps people unlock their happiest and healthiest life. Find more at louisethompson.com