To All the Mothers Who Make Broken Things Beautiful
By Linda Bevec
I came across the most interesting bowl in an art shop recently. It sat proudly on a shelf and caught my eye. I picked it up and realized it was broken in several pieces but had been put together with a glimmering thread of gold. Most people would conceal their broken items by repairing them with a clear sealant or glue, but the Japanese art of kintsugi follows a different philosophy; a philosophy I wholeheartedly relate to and embrace. Rather than disguise the breakage, kintsugi is the art of restoring the item by incorporating the broken pieces into the most aesthetic feature and highlighting it for all to see as part of the object’s story or history. Kintsugi uses lacquer resin mixed with powdered gold, silver, platinum, copper or bronze, resulting in something more beautiful and unique than the original unbroken piece.
It is funny how one glance at something can penetrate to the core of who you are and make you think of the many other people you know in your life who would silently understand. I immediately thought of all the mothers I know who are courageously caring for and raising a chronically ill or special needs child. I think each and every one of you are especially beautiful because the broken pieces of your life have been held together with threads of gold in the form of countless tears, prayers, hugs, cries for help, sleepless nights, endless hours of waiting in doctor offices or surgery waiting rooms, long days of mental and emotional exhaustion, fierce determination, and the resolve to rise above the broken dreams and hopes for your child to ensure a life equally, if not even MORE beautiful than you ever imagined possible.
This Mother’s Day, I wish I could send each and every one of YOU a kintsugi bowl as a reminder of your fearlessness and strength, and your beauty in the midst of frailty. We share a kindred sisterhood on this journey and I hope you feel a source of support and renewal in knowing we are together in a special way. As I told a friend recently, we are all part of a club no mother ever wants to be in. We are doing things we never thought we’d be strong enough to do. We are raising children who suffer in ways no child ever should, but we cherish every moment with them and have found a unique and unexpected kind of beauty in it all. Some of us have lost children to this disease and live with broken hearts. You are not alone. The fact that we are mothers with uncommon determination means we can find healing in our broken pieces and put them back together like the kintsugi way.
After all, a world of perfect pottery would never know the quiet strength and inner beauty of those who are both broken and blessed.
My heart is with you and I wish you all a very happy Mother’s Day!
