Find beauty in your broken
what kintsugi teaches us about healing
By Lindsie Meek
Your favorite vase, bowl, or mug slips through your fingers and shatters across the floor. Your initial instinct says it's ruined — beyond use, beyond repair — and you reach for the dustpan to sweep away the evidence. But what if, instead of hiding these breaks, you highlighted them? What if these fractures were celebrated and transformed into the most striking feature of the piece?
In the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, broken pottery isn't discarded — it's mended with golden seams that honor its history rather than disguise it. Here we find a powerful metaphor for your own healing journey — your wounds don't minimize your worth. In fact, your breaks can become the most meaningful, luminous parts of your story.
When Things Fall Apart
Breaking is rarely tidy. It often arrives in the form of 3 a.m. anxiety, the relentless inner voice whispering that you’re not enough, the quiet exhaustion of holding it all together, and the shame that creeps in, suggesting you’re fundamentally flawed. These moments don’t feel refining — they feel heavy. They leave behind disorientation, grief, and a longing to make things feel whole again. It’s a natural instinct to rush past the discomfort, to smooth over the damage or erase the evidence.
But what if the very places that feel most broken aren’t the end of your story? What if they’re the beginning of something softer, deeper, and more authentic? Brokenness strips away what no longer serves us and brings us face-to-face with what truly matters. Healing isn’t about erasing the past. It’s about weaving it into the present with care. The Kintsugi philosophy reminds us that our healing doesn’t mean going back — it means becoming.
What is kintsugi? a philosophy of repair
Kintsugi, which translates to “golden joinery,” is a centuries-old Japanese art form that involves mending broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. Rather than masking the damage, Kintsugi illuminates it, celebrating the object’s history — not in spite of its fractures, but because of them.
At its heart, Kintsugi reflects a deeper philosophy rooted in wabi-sabi, the appreciation of things that are imperfect and incomplete. It offers quiet wisdom — that wholeness doesn’t mean returning to what was, but honoring what is. This way of seeing invites us to reframe our own inner breaks, not as blemishes to be hidden, but as part of what makes us real, resilient, and deeply human.
Bringing Kintsugi into Your Life
Here are four gentle invitations to help you bring Kintsugi into your day-to-day:
01. NAME WHAT’S BROKEN
Let yourself notice what hurts. What shifted. What’s been hard to hold. You don’t need to explain it away or make it palatable — just start by naming it.
Try this: Journal a few honest sentences about what’s been feeling heavy. Or simply say it out loud to yourself. Naming is the first step toward honoring.
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02. gather with compassion
When you feel ready, begin tending to your broken pieces. Not with judgment or urgency — but with gentleness.
Try this: Instead of asking “What’s wrong with me?” try asking “What might this part of me need right now?” Let compassion be the glue.
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03. join with intention
You don’t have to return every broken piece to its original place. Healing offers a chance to pause and reflect on what still feels right — and what no longer does.
Try this: Make two lists: “What I’m keeping” and “What I’m ready to release”. Let your healing reflect who you’re becoming, not just who you’ve been.
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04. Highlight rather than hide
You don’t need to cover the cracks. Let them live in the light. Speak your story, write it, or quietly own it — whatever feels true.
Try this: Write one sentence that affirms a part of your story you’ve been hiding. Even if no one else sees it, let it be seen by you.
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If any of these practical tips feels like too much to do on your own, that’s okay. You don’t have to do this alone. Reaching out for support, whether from a therapist, a friend, or someone you trust, can help lighten the load and make things feel a little more doable and a little less heavy.
therapy through the
lens of kintsugi
At HumanMend, we don’t see therapy as fixing what’s broken. We see it as an act of gentle mending — a process of holding space for all the parts of you, even (and especially) the ones you’ve been told to hide.
Like the Kintsugi artisan, we start by sitting with what’s shattered. No rush. No judgment. Just presence. Together, we explore what each piece holds — grief, resilience, tenderness, strength — and begin the work of honoring your story in its full complexity. In this space, you don’t have to come polished. Come as you are. We’ll help you make meaning from the mess, one piece at a time.
There is beauty in your broken
In a world that tells us to hide our wounds and imperfections, Kintsugi offers a radical reframe. To see value in what others might discard. To find beauty where others see only damage. To understand that our breaks don't make us less worthy — they make us more uniquely ourselves.
The Japanese craftsmen who developed Kintsugi didn't see brokenness as something to disguise. They understood that a vessel's history, including its breaks, made it more precious, not less. The gold-filled seams became a testament to resilience, honoring both what was and what is becoming.
If something in you feels cracked or tender right now, know this: you are not broken beyond repair. You are not alone. Give yourself permission to begin again — not perfectly, but intentionally. Take one small step today. That might look like journaling about your own “cracks,” reaching out for support, or simply pausing to honor how far you’ve already come. You’re allowed to move at your own pace. You’re allowed to mend gently. Healing doesn’t ask you to have it all figured out. It simply invites you to stay open to the idea that beauty can grow from the very places you once tried to hide.
REFEReNCES
Thompson, J. (2021). Kintsugi: Japan’s ancient art of embracing imperfection. BBC Travel. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210107-kintsugi-japans-ancient-art-of-embracing-imperfection
Fallahnejad, A. (2025). The philosophy of wabi-sabi in Japanese culture. PhilArchive. https://philarchive.org/rec/FALTPO-16
Rehab Recovery. (2024). Benefits of Wabi Sabi and Kintsugi for Mental Health. https://www.rehab-recovery.co.uk/articles/benefits-wabi-sabi-kintsugi-mental-health
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