Kintsugi means “golden joinery” and is the Japanese practice of repairing broken ceramics with gold lacquer. Instead of discarding damaged pottery they repair it and emphasize the scar, making it a focal point of beauty. They believe that the suffering and damage from a meaningful history is cause for celebration. Using kintsugi to repair the piece renders it more valuable than before.

We’ve all felt broken or damaged at some point. It’s inevitable, unless you don’t plan to go anywhere, say anything, do anything, or meet anyone. So the goal cannot be to avoid getting scarred but rather to make the scars into something meaningful. Like the kintsugi artist we can enhance the beauty and value in our own lives by filling our scars with meaning and gratitude. Figure out your own way of kintsugi-ing your scars and imperfections instead of trying to hide them. Celebrate each one for what it is – a testament to your will to live a life worth living.