Plant Kintsugi

The traditional Japanese art of Kintsugi-Repairing pottery by mending it with gold-Highlights the repair, doesn’t try to disguise itEmbracing history, imperfection, as valuable, beautifulI got my daughter a kintsugi bowl after her first breakup‘Things break, they change, and that’s ok’Adversity can make us stronger and add to our beauty, certainly our uniquenessIt’s a physical representation of ‘our broken places are where the light comes in”I have a living version of this principle on my kitchen counterIn January, a sweet little plant I’d been cultivating snapped in halfIt was just sitting on the windowsill. We were on the couch.And heard the snap, out of nowhereWhat remained in the tall white pot had just 2 leaves and a harsh break on the stemI rooted the still budding top then planted it into the gray clay potNow, six or so months laterThe buds from the healthy top continue to slowly unfurl in a straight lineBut, that sad little broken bottom has grown dynamicallyThe break seemed to push life force out in three different directionsThe part I thought didn’t have much potential is practically a little tree nowIt’s darling and I love itIt took some time for the life force moving through that plant to find new footingsWhen the direction it had been growing in abruptly came to a stopAnd it got creative, it experimentedAnd the results are robust, charmingThis all feels so relevant, such a great meditationAnd within this context, I really can be curious about what’s to comeCurious with sparkles on topBecause things break, and it can be surprising, disorienting, sad, uncomfortableBut broken things can be mended and maybe even become more beautifulBroken things can provide opportunity for creative growth strategiesBrokenness isn’t a death sentenceIt just might be a new life sentence[I just looked it up, and it is a Chinese money plant (ironic?)] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fallingtenderly.substack.com