“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” Ernest Hemingway from A Farewell to Arms
I only write when my mind won’t stop thinking about an idea. I am so lucky to be in contact with many of my former students, and some of them still enjoy talking to me about ideas and philosophies and literature (thank goodness!) The other day I had a conversation with a former student who is now a teacher about the idea of brokenness, which reminded me of a concept that I learned about at Centre Alumni College: Wabi Sabi and Kintsugi.
She had a lesson on the idea of brokenness which ended in a hard, but necessary discussion with the students. So many young people feel broken and because of the perfection that they see daily, many feel lost, useless, and unseen. But what if they were able to see their beauty in the brokenness? What if they could see their strength in the brokenness? That is where the philosophy of Wabi Sabi and the art of Kintsugi come to mind.
Wabi Sabi is a complex concept. But basically the idea allows people the freedom to find beauty in what is fleeting and flawed. Wabi refers to living simply and in tune with nature, what Emerson, Thoreau, and the Romantics showed us; Sabi refers to transience and the passage of time. So these two words describe a type of beauty and a way of life that embraces the unknown, embraces what has been experienced as a lesson to learn and teach, embraces life’s simplicity, and embraces one’s own humility.
In our culture, most often imperfection and age are not valued. I would cringe when I heard young people say a few years ago, “Okay, Boomer.” I don’t know what the new phrase is now, but do these people really want to be Peter Pan? Is that their goal? I mean, eventually everyone ages. Why not age gracefully, learning and growing along the way.
I suppose some enjoy everything new and young. However, there is a grand beauty in experience. There is a grand beauty in old homes. Even if your home is new, bringing in nature and a few antiques to warm up a space provides Wabi Sabi. Do you really want all of your furnishing matchy-matchy or from a box? Think about the warm patina on an old, crafted wooden writing desk vs. the coldness of a fake pressed wood, plastic desk that you have to assemble.
In life, isn’t it nice to talk to people who have lived; who have survived hard times; who are thriving? Isn’t it nice to talk to youth as well? There is so much to learn from both sides. Can you imagine if everyone was as vapid as Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby? Can you imagine if everything was new and shiny? There’s beauty in the patina that comes from age.
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing pottery mended with gold-dusted lacquer. Rather than hiding the brokenness, the gold highlights the damage and shows its beauty. I love this idea as a metaphor for showing the beauty of survival. Instead of hiding our hard experiences, our mended brokenness should be our gold-dusted lacquer to show our strength.
So as we bow our heads to give thanks tomorrow, consider the beauty your family and home has to offer. Bring in nature to your table settings. Embrace the flaws as a lovely patina, the Kintsugi and Wabi Sabi.