The art of being broken

Kintsukuroi (“golden mend”) is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery using lacquer resin laced with gold or silver. As well as a nifty form of repair, Kintsukuroi has a deeper philosophical significance.

I have mended my body and my mind.

Before my stroke, I was held captive by my crazy personas.  Post-stroke, I was puzzled about how to put myself back together again.  I felt like Humpty Dumpty, falling but never reaching the dirt.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

As Barbara Bloom said, “When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.”

Perhaps I need to use Bloom’s perspective as my new persona.