Beauty in the Broken
Kintsugi--beauty in imperfection
All of us have scars, my focus is helping those who are healing from the wounds of sexual assault, particularly childhood sexual abuse. However, this post is for anyone who has suffered pain, and that is all of us.
There is a poignant Japanese art called, "Kintsugi1" My partner, Saprea, succinctly explains the metaphor of Kintsugi to healing and glorifying sexual abuse survivors:
The Legend of Kintsugi
A Japanese legend tells the story of a mighty shogun warrior who broke his favorite tea bowl and sent it away for repairs. When he received it back, the bowl was held together by unsightly metal staples. Although he could still use it, the shogun was disappointed. Still hoping to restore his beloved bowl to its former beauty, he asked a craftsman to find a more elegant solution.
The craftsman wanted to try a new technique, something that would add to the beauty of the bowl as well as repair it. So, he mended every crack in the bowl with a lacquer resin mixed with gold. When the tea bowl was returned to the shogun, there were streaks of gold running through it, telling its story, and—the warrior thought—adding to its value and beauty. This method of repair became known as kintsugi.
Kintsugi, which roughly translates to “golden joinery,” is the Japanese philosophy that the value of an object is not in its beauty, but in its imperfections, and that these imperfections are something to celebrate, not hide.
--https://saprea.org/blog/kintsugi-the-value-of-a-broken-bowl/
The BBC presented a more in depth study of Kintsugi illustrating how Kintsugi is an extension of Wabi-Sabi: beauty in imperfection:
There is a beauty in imperfection. Your scars are glorious. As with Kintsui, it takes time to repair the breaks forming a longer lasting "Golden Joinery." Be patient. You can heal. And, your essence will be edified, stronger, and beautiful.