Kintsugi: When Broken Makes Beautiful

Why does everything Japanese evoke a sense of coolness and mysticism?

I haven't been, but the country seems super cool with its mix of nature and city—it's high on my radar as a place to visit.

The people are chill, too. Respectful, shy, kind, stoic, and it feels like they've learned the art of life from a different universe. Their life philosophies ooze wisdom and make all sorts of sense.

You've seen Ikigai plastered all over LinkedIn—that Venn diagram of purpose everyone loves to share. (Guilty of posting it myself.) But let me introduce you to something more profound: Kintsugi.

OMG. Clearly, this is not a pot thing alone. It's life, friends. LIFE. There's a lesson here.

Everything breaks, everything's flawed.

But instead of hiding them, highlight them proudly. Because you went through it, you learned the lessons that life threw at you, and came back from pieces to a whole.

All those cracks are lessons learned.

Humans love a comeback story, be it Jordan, Robert Downey Jr. (Ironman was us celebrating his comeback from addiction and substance abuse), Sanjay Dutt , Steve Jobs, Diego Maradona, or Tiger Woods—it's because we all relate to being human.

Like Kintsugi, their golden scars tell stories of falling apart and coming back stronger.

Perhaps we haven't fucked up as much as them, but everyone has their own struggle, the size is the only difference.

Next time, before you beat yourself up into a pulp, be kinder. Repair yourself with kintsugi. You are who you are, imperfections and all.

You didn't ask to be born. And you can't avoid dying. But that middle part? That's yours to design.

Go make a masterpiece.