Precious Metals

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/I recently learned about Kintsukuroi, the Japanese art of repairing cracked and broken pottery by filling it with precious metals such as platinum, gold, and silver. The addition of the precious metals makes the pottery piece stronger in its repaired state than in its original form. This art is a tribute to the brokenness and strength that come from taking melted metals and using them to repair the original piece. Thus, making it even more beautiful in its new form. Filling the imperfections creates strength.

I immediately envision a broken heart. The heart I see is as big as my mind’s eye, but it has deep cracks throughout its landscape. Each crack represents a piece of the heart that has been broken by first love, lost dreams, and personal failures. Small fissures of fear and self-doubt form and widen. If not tended carefully, the heart will remain broken and weak. The small cracks and fissures will grow into deep divides.

I imagine the most beautiful liquids pouring into the divides. The melted gold, platinum, and silver slowly and deliberately flow through the heart as water flows from a river into the ocean. The liquid that pours into every crack and crevice from these precious metals is hot but does not burn. As it flows, a glowing beam of light begins to radiate outward, and this creates warmth like sunshine on a cold winter’s day. As the precious metals cool, they form solid bonds in the open voids. This filling and bonding creates strength. What was once cracked and broken is now solid and whole again. The newly formed heart is more beautiful than before. The gold and silver shimmer as the radiant light hits from different angles. New patterns emerge, and the tenderness evident before the breaking, is now healed with renewed strength.

This beautiful image of strength and renewal is rooted in love and compassion. It’s born out of permission given to honor every broken piece, every memory of the good, the bad, and the messy moments in life. The body and soul wrap around the heart and protect it with unconditional loving kindness. This is what it means to heal. This is what it means to persevere and continue to move forward even when life gets hard and seems unbearable. This isn’t just the beauty in the struggle. It’s the beauty and strength that come from healing a broken heart.