
I admit, the sheer beauty of some of these words calls me to them and inspires me into their mysteries!
Kismet, Wabi Sabi, Wu Wei (the art of non-doing), Haelu and Kintsukuroi, for example. Each has its own mystery, its own invitation to us.
Kintsukuroi, for its part, is the exquisite inclination to see the potential beauty in and then make art from the shards of something that’s broken.
As Leonard Cohen sang, “There is a crack … a crack in everything; that’s how the light shines through.”
Those working the magic of Kintsukoroi piece things back together, using precious metals like gold, silver, and I’d suggest copper, because it’s beautiful.
Why do they do this? Why do they bother with something that most others would simply discard (or recycle, if they’re so inclined)?

There is a belief, similar to that of the Japanese Wabi Sabi, that breakage, suffering, and so-called imperfections or ‘signs of wear’ give an item, or give one, a history; and that history gives a thing, or a person, or animal, or tree, its unique beauty. The wear, tear, and broken places are what makes a thing, or makes a person, interesting and gives them substance.
So, with Kintsukuroi, those stress-lines and broken places aren’t just glued back together, the cracks are accentuated with gold or silver or copper, resulting in something even more interesting and beautiful.

Some of my ancestors had a similar practice, of making what they called memory jars using broken bits of dishware, glass, trinkets, jewelry, and maybe found-objects.
I remember sitting before a memory jar umbrella stand at my great-grandmother’s house, looking at the array of treasure-bits, musing on what their stories had been before they became part of this work of folk art.
Making art from the shards — those broken bits and pieces. Not hiding what some might call imperfections, but highlighting them. Hmmm, there‘s a metaphor for you.
There’s a crazy, holy Grace to that celebration of the beauty and strength born from the broken places.
As you look at your own beautiful, unique collection of broken places, (so called) flaws, fragments, shards, (supposed) imperfections, and similar assorted bits and pieces, how might they be seen as and rewoven into your own work of art, with you the artisan of your own life?
That seems a fine question to live into in the days, months, and year ahead.
Big Love,
Image credit link: Find the memory jar in the image here.
December 27, 2014 at 6:57 pm
Reblogged this on litebeing chronicles and commented:
Let’s all create beauty by celebrating our dark and broken places. We can transform our wounds into golden shafts of light. Jamie’s post is a treasure, especially at this time in our history.
December 27, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Thanks again for rippling this post outward, Linda! Love, Jamie
December 27, 2014 at 7:07 pm
Reblogged this on Tania Marie's Blog and commented:
This is a wonderful post from Jamie Walters, shared by my friend Linda of http://litebeing.com/. Perfect to reflect on as the year comes to closure and something to remind yourself of daily – the beauty and value of your splendidly perfect imperfection.
December 27, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Thank you for reblogging this post, Tania Marie, and sharing it with your circles as well. I appreciate it! Love, Jamie
December 27, 2014 at 7:34 pm
you’re so welcome! thank you for writing such an important and valuable post <3
December 27, 2014 at 7:12 pm
Dear Jamie, This is beautiful … more salve on wounds! (How do you always know??!)..
Do you think creating something (simple) from broken, otherwise-trash-worthy items could be healing? Like, a healing ritual of sorts for someone whose subconscious seems glued to dysfunctional beliefs taught from the crib … eg, ‘your not supposed to be here’, ‘you shouldn’t exist’, you don’t matter, ‘you’re not even human’ (I still don’t know what he meant by that human one; and honestly, it wasn’t until a couple years ago — at age 48 — when the meaning of those other odd declarations he made, listed above, hit me like a ton of bricks).
On one level, Of course I know those things aren’t true! And Im not meaning to “play the victim” here, because I’m working so hard to overcome these false beliefs. In fact, a few years ago I didn’t even know I had any false beliefs (!!) — they were all well buried, and hidden deep in the thick soupy fog I conjured up as a child to protect myself, and my soul & spirit, from the awful reality. So, I have truly come a long way. However, I must confess — this process of waking up to reality is quite jarring and traumatic in many ways.
Anyway, sorry for the digression. Back to my original question: if creating a ‘sacred symbol’ with broken pieces could bring some healing to me, do you know of any specific projects I could try? Thank you Jamie! … I still have a couple more comments coming …
December 27, 2014 at 7:30 pm
Hey there, Mo. I’d follow the strong intuition that you have that this sort of artistic project could be healing, meaningful, and rewarding. For me, these sorts of things have felt healing (and just really satisfying), and goodness knows I’ve done lots of other practices along the way to release the ‘tapes’ of implanted/embedded comments, etc.! But why not trust what’s coming up for you and give the ‘Kintsukuroi’ or memory jar a try? Love, Jamie
December 27, 2014 at 7:20 pm
Hey let’s reblog this around the world 🙂
December 27, 2014 at 7:26 pm
Thank you for reblogging it to your LiteBeing readers, Linda! Very much appreciated. Love, Jamie
December 27, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Reblogged this on Laura Bruno's Blog and commented:
Thanks to Jamie for this beautiful post! I especially love Wu Wei, since Wu Wei Zi is “Schizandra,” the main character of my novel, who acts in such a manner. Also, painting discarded, old doors into powerfully intentioned and coded portals is my favorite form of art to practice. Thanks to Tania Marie for bringing this blog to my attention.
December 27, 2014 at 9:00 pm
You’re most welcome, Laura. 🙂 And thank you for reblogging it, and rippling it further. That’s quite a cool sync, with Wu Wei Zi being the main character in your novel. I’ve enjoyed your ‘doors’ posts as well – such a great idea to repurpose beautiful old doors (they’ve got histories and stories all their own!). Happy holy days! Love, Jamie
December 27, 2014 at 9:03 pm
Happy Holy Days to you, too, Jamie! Love and cheers, Laura
December 27, 2014 at 9:41 pm
Reblogged this on Reiki Dawn and commented:
Sharing. Thoughts for now
December 27, 2014 at 9:55 pm
Thank you so much for reblogging this post, Reiki Dawn! Happy holy days to you and yours. Love, Jamie
December 27, 2014 at 11:29 pm
My pleasure. Happy holidays to you as well😋
December 28, 2014 at 2:22 am
This is a beautiful story. We are all wabi sabi. It’s up to us to put ourselves back together after breaks. And fill our cracked souls with magnificent gold.
I also like the memory jug, though I have a feeling my family’s jug would be covered in broken wine glasses, stems and all, if truth be shown with visual art. But that’s a story for another decade.
Hugs and love,
O and om
December 29, 2014 at 1:06 pm
Thank you, mother and compadre of Odey! We are all wabi sabi kinsukuroi. The memory jars (or whatever we’d choose to make) are compelling, because of all of those varied bits and pieces, each with its own story. I suppose we can create our own with favored bits or found pieces, too. Then again, a memory jar with wine glass stems could be pretty quirky and interesting, too. That’s the possibility of it I suppose … making art from any of it. xoxo Love, Jamie
December 29, 2014 at 5:57 pm
True.
Top of the afternoon to you Jamie 🙂
Hugs, O and om 🐱
December 29, 2014 at 9:34 pm
xoxo 🙂
January 4, 2015 at 6:58 am
I did this as a child in art…I remember it…had forgotten…thank you for bringing back that beautiful memory of making something broken….whole
January 4, 2015 at 1:44 pm
You’re welcome, Sherry. It’s fun to spiral back around to those things we so enjoyed as children, isn’t it? As you shared, “…that beautiful memory of making something broken … whole.” Yes! Here’s to it in 2015. 🙂