Kintsugi

Alfie is a play adapted into film in 1966, and again in 2004.  As a young woman, I loved this movie for its witty lines and beautiful characters, namely the womanizer that is Alfie.  What’s Alfie like?  Listen to his impression upon Aphrodite, “beautiful she was; perfect female form; chiseled features; exquisite.  I stood in awe of her.  Finally, the teacher calls us all over, and I’m walking past it.  And on the way I notice, on the side of this Greek goddess, all these cracks, chips, imperfections.  Ruined her for me.”

Oh, to be young and insecure!  I never believed I was beautiful as Aphrodite, but I took the latter to heart, that once someone got to know me, they would see all the cracks, which would ruin it for them.  The beauty of growing older is that the insecurity wears away.  What once seen as imperfection becomes uniqueness, beautiful in and of itself.  Cracks and chips become graceful lines to be worn proudly, flaunting lived experiences.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing pottery by mending cracks and chips with powdered gold.  As a philosophy, it is similar to wabi-sabi, an embracing of the flawed.  That it is mended with gold makes imperfection the most precious feature of the whole.  Practicing kintsugi is therapeutic and can be done with gold mica powder, much more affordable than actual gold.

I saw this piece of pottery at the flea market.  I wasn’t sure what it was, perhaps a scent warmer, but I liked the sunflower sculpted on it.  I kept it out in the garden and accidentally broke it while watering the plants.  Mending it took about a week, mostly having to do with waiting for the glue to dry in between.  I don’t do it often, but I imagine it could look much better with practice.

As for Alfie, even Venus is not good enough for him!  He’s best left alone to wallow in his own perfection.