Kintsugi Poem by Jim Yerman

I thought about Kintsugi this morning while looking in the mirror…feeling old…Kintsugi is the art of repairing cracks and breaks in pottery with lacquer dusted in silver, platinum…and gold.

The philosophy being those breaks and cracks are to be embraced…something everyone should see…a vital part of that pottery's essence…its past…its history.

It's a way of celebrating those the flaws and imperfections in an object that occur as it gets old…by filling those flaws and imperfections in silver, or platinum…or gold.

Kintsugi is an art form that has helped the Japanese find a way of seeing the beauty in the cracks and breaks…of keeping an item useful…instead of throwing it away.

I wonder if the Gods who created our Earth…seeing the breaks and cracks in their creation knew just what to do…they filled those breaks and cracks with water…and painted the water blue.

Yes, instead of starting over…they embraced our planets flaws…they saw its worth…and by painting the streams and rivers blue…created Kintsugi on the Earth.

I try to remember this when I look in the mirror each morning…I try to smile and embrace every flaw that's staring back at me…every wrinkle on my face.

I try to celebrate my Kintsugi-ness as I have gotten old…
Perhaps, one day, I'll pick up a brush…and paint my wrinkles gold.