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From a personal project I’m finding time to do more with and would like to share with you here. Let me know what you think.
Kintsugi means “golden joinery” and is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold, treating the breakage and repair as “part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise”. It’s a way I like to think about emotional scars, they never go away, but they can become our strengths, defining us in positive ways. Overcoming pain and mistakes can be part of what makes a person beautiful or remarkable.
Main music while creating: Opening — Philip Glass
Janice Duke Illustration 
I like the concept – love the butterflies; strange how squeamish I am at the depiction of a heart 😦
Whether we are “whole”, and being “made whole” is an interesting discussion; Christianity expends a lot of effort to tell us that “believing in God will make us whole”, whilst many will agree with you that we should accept that we are not whole (presumably because we are all too aware of our faults and weaknesses?).
I am of the opinion that each and every one of us is “whole” in the sense that we are fully human. In my opinion, to accept that we are full of fears, faults and weaknesses, only serves to underline that sense of “wholeness”, because that’s what a human is.
Whether we feel at peace with accepting ourselves as “a work in progress”, seems to me to be what contributes to our feelings of wholeness.
Thanks for getting me thinking. 🌼🌻🤔
You’re most welcome 🙂
I was a little squeamish about the heart myself, but I had a very specific intent with it. Kintsugi means “golden joinery” and is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold, treating the breakage and repair as “part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise”. I wanted to explore the notion that a broken heart can be transformed, like a caterpillar into a butterfly, and be all the more beautiful and strong for it.
“Whether we feel at peace with accepting ourselves as “a work in progress”, seems to me to be what contributes to our feelings of wholeness.” You hit the nail on the head there. I think being able to accept that nobody is perfect and being aware of our own flaws (in a nurturing, good-humoured way) is very important to mental and emotional health.
I used to write poetry myself and find the words as well as the picture really beautiful. What is the meaning of Kintsugi? if I may ask.
Thank you, and thanks for asking! I probably should have put the meaning in the comment underneath (might update that). Kintsugi means “golden joinery” and is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with gold, treating the breakage and repair as “part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise”. It’s a way I like to think about emotional scars, they never go away, but they can become our strengths, defining us in positive ways. Overcoming pain and mistakes can be part of what makes a person beautiful or remarkable.
Why did you stop writing poetry? I haven’t for a long while because nobody seemed to really be interested, but I decided recently that I am still interested and that is enough for me 🙂
Picture makes a lot more sense now. I wont say I’ve stopped as much as the words dont come as freely as they used to…
Ah, I can understand that. Are you happy with that or would you prefer to have that flow more again? Some I’ve known have been happier when the words don’t come so much anymore, but it isn’t always like that.
I miss the flow too be honest.
I hope it returns then. May something inspire you soon 😉