Kintsugi

When Jack goes to bed, some nights Becca and I find we have some time to chill out together. Right now we are using that time to rewatch Ted Lasso from the start before we start the new season. It’s such a comfort blanket of a show, brings such joy, and I forgot how good and funny it was.

In the episode we watched last night the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer and gold, known as Kintsugi, gets a brief mention. It’s something I’ve heard about before, and I can recall losing several hours watching videos of the repairs being made. That lead to another mild obsession with the making of Yixing (traditional Chinese clay tea pots), a rabbit hole I occasionally still fall down.

The thinking behind Kintsugi struck me though, and I don’t know why I didn’t make this connection before. Kintsugi isn’t trying to hide the cracks or pretend the bowl, or plate, or cup was never broken. The cracks are honoured as part of its history and keeping them, indeed embellishing them, make the finished object all the more interesting.

When I first started this blog I didn’t really think of what I was trying to achieve with it, but I realise now that in a way —ok this may be a bit clunky but bear with me— I’ve been using the thinking of Kintsugi on myself, through my blog. I’ve been collecting my cracks, repairs, changes of mind, obsessions and general nonsense since 1999.

This blog was never meant to show a perfect, polished version of me, believe it or not, I do self-edit a lot of things that don’t make it to the site. That said, this blog is me as I happen to be at the time of writing, and then again a few years later, and then again after that.

So perhaps that’s what Happily Imperfect really is: a slightly battered pot that’s been patched up repeatedly, but is still useful. Maybe it’s even a little more interesting for having embraced all its flaws.

Perhaps that could be a new tagline?

Happily Imperfect — Kintsugi of my soul since 1999.

Hmmm, perhaps not.