Kintsukuroi

There is this page that I "like" on Facebook - Word Porn.  It's a page for interesting words. Words that describe things  i previously thought were indescribable - the sound of wind passing through trees - Psithurism;  the scent of rain on dry earth - Petrichor. ummm... i love that scent. I shall share more of my favorite words in another post.

Anyhow, one of the words that got my attention was "Kintsukuroi" - it's the Japanese art of repairing pottery with lacquer (urushi) and gold.


 I find the thought exotic and so so valuable! If only we could apply the same technique to mend broken things around us how beautiful would it all be. Being broken or shattered would no longer render something less valuable. With a little love and patience it's reborn as something more beautiful and unique.

 Every hurt, every heart break makes us who we are. The scars will always be there, as gentle reminders of where we have been, but when the broken bowl is put together, it is ready to hold and keep something safe within it again.

We could all try to be like the kintsukuroi artist. A mender not a breaker.

Happy New Year!

Its that time of the year again. The streets are lit up, every window of every shop has Christmas decorations. Despite the cold everyone is happy, gifts all around, festive spirit in the air and all that... 

I am not sure if i'm fully into the merriment. The year end brings out a familiar sense of disquiet. I remember last year around this time i was all "2013 is going to be THE YEAR. There was a list and i was sure that I would change things. Lose weight, find the right job, more this less that. yeah right! 

Yes i did lose some pounds, i read some good books.. But for most part my list for 2014 looked the same as last year's. 

So here's what i did. I resigned. I don't want to use the word 'quit' because it was actually quite liberating.

My first step towards making the next year different. And already the year looks promising. Three trips planned in the first half (booked the tickets already so no turning back :)), talks underway for a new venture, a little more confidence and little less self doubt. So my wish for 2014 is not only is it a happy year, but that it also becomes "The year that changed my life".

And i wish this for everyone. 

I wish everyone a year of more "it was fun" times and less "i wish i had" moments. May you do more of the things you really want to do, because the things you have to do will get done anyways.

May you find the right words to say what you feel. Let this be the year you feel so strongly about something that your eyes well up.  Let this be the year you let go. Be free. Break the chains, the words that bind you. Smiling is good but laughter is better. Again, do what you really want to... take the first step ( which might not necessarily mean resigning from your job, but you get the point). 

Be complete. Ask your heart what makes it happy. Do it. Ask your mind to shut up.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”-Mark Twain

And oh! if, in due course of the year you hear some strange news about me, please don't be shocked. It's probably something that i have always wanted to do :)

Have a great 2014!!!