Fill Your Scars With Gold

Kintsugi or “golden joinery” is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with an adhesive containing gold dust. The philosophy behind this art is the embracing of cracks and repairs through the use and life of the item.

Basically, something is valuable if it is used, and by using that item it will inevitably get chipped or cracked.

In Western cultures if something breaks, we typically try to repair it as close as possible to the original. We try to hide the cracks. The goal of kintsugi is the opposite of this. It aims to embrace these cracks and to be proud of them.

This philosophy made me think. Despite our best efforts in the kitchen, we drop pots and pottery gets chipped. Much like how in life, despite our best efforts, we make mistakes and fail.

Instead of hiding our mistakes and failures, maybe we should talk about them. When a project doesn’t end up as successful as you would like, consider this a time to reevaluate your processes and learn how you can work better next time.

Rather than being afraid of failing, let’s focus on learning from our mistakes. Let’s look at ways for failure to make us better, like a golden line on a piece of pottery.

With this outlook, you can fill your scars with gold and show them proudly, knowing you are better because of them.

Until next time…we are Advoco, make every minute count.

About Colin: Colin Whitney is a Solutions Architect with Advoco and looks forward to helping others achieve their EAM goals. He is a graduate of both the University of Iowa and the University of Georgia. When he is not working he enjoys getting outside and watching college football. Questions? Send Colin an email!