I recently learned of the Japanese concept "wabi-sabi" that embraces imperfection and life's transient nature. It is an ancient philosophy honoring a flaw or blemish. As well as symmetry and asymmetry. My art teacher once said to not color my picture in just one solid shade. Instead, life has many colors. Everything we look at has many hues. The grass is abundant in greens and the sky multiple blues or even grays. Similarly, there is both sadness and joy in this life. Love and grief can sometimes occur together.
Japanese pottery repair, kintsugi, is an example of this. With broken objects, kintsugi fills in the cracks with gold, platinum, or silver. Instead of viewing the piece as broken it is honored as part of its story. Therefore, creating something beautiful from its scars.
A few years ago in Arizona, I climbed Camelback mountain with a few friendly strangers. The group was so nice and made sure I was careful since it was my first time. We reached the top with a collective sense of pride.
"I've got this!" I thought to myself. However, I underestimated the difficulty of the descend down the mountain. A few times I slipped going too quickly. Towards the end, I fell and hit my elbow on a rock. I was fine, but it created a large scar. This area is different than my other skin. It is more sensitive to touch and lighter colored. The scar tissue is obvious if pointed out. However, if I view it as part of my story it creates a whole different narrative. The reminder of pride felt climbing a mountain.
We all have stories of scars. What is yours?
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