Practicing Kintsugi

I know I’m not alone with the feeling of panic when something breaks coupled with dismay and regret for something lost. For as long as I can remember, I loved putting things back together. Little did I realize I was practicing Kintsugi. Join me on this podcast as I explore more about Kintsugi and recount some fond memories of mohair and the Raku art of pottery. 

Transcript

Hello Everyone, and welcome to the podcast of the Ordinary Maverick. This is Ajey, your host, an ordinary Maverick sharing real life thoughts and experiences and Maverick tips. If you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, please do so, and you’ll not miss another episode.

Kintsugi, some of you might have heard this word before and for some, when you first read this, you were like, ‘what’s this’? well, when I first heard it, I was intrigued and true to the Maverick spirit jumped right into finding out more. Mavericks are curious beings, right? 

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold. Kintsugi translates to golden journey, it’s also known as Kintsukuroi, golden repair. And evolved as the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powedered gold, silver or platinum.

But what’s more interesting and profound is the philosophy behind it. Breakage and repair are treated as part of a journey, as history and to be seen rather than disguised or hidden. It teaches one to be aware that life is not perfect and that the scars and learnings are to be proud of as one emerges out with something unique, distinct and beautiful. No two objects break in exactly the same way and no two lives are the same.

Going a bit deeper, it also shows that there is beauty in an object even after it’s broken and it’s not something to be discarded. There is use for the object even after it’s broken. So in kintsugi, one doesn’t hide the flaws, in fact just the opposite. The cracks are highlighted with gold, silver, literally illuminated and the entire piece is unique.

There’s another aspect to it too. Remember the feeling when something precious falls and breaks! Panic mixed with anxiety mixed with sorrow, all depends how much one was attached to the object. But with practicing Kintsugi, it helps to not panic and feel devastated when a favorite cup or vase breaks. It helps in keeping calm in calamity and knowing that what will emerge will be more beautiful with the liquid gold poured into the cracks through the kintsugi technique.

It reinforces the human spirit and the beauty of human fragility often overlooked in today’s fast paced, competitive world.

The world today favors the young, the beautiful.  Perfection and anything old or broken doesn’t merit the same value. Well, the practice of kintsugi teaches us to to stay optimistic even when things are falling apart and to celebrate the flaws and the challenges one may face in life.

I must admit I’ve had a ‘thing’ with putting stuff back together since long. Mugs, pottery, vases anything that broke, I would sit for hours joining them up. Of course, not with liquid gold – ha ha…but finding the best glue that could hold the pieces together. Little did I realize that I was practicing my own form of kintsugi! For me it was more about the fascination of putting things back together, of finding a way of reusing it and not just throwing it away. And I have to admit, I am good at it! Ha ha.

Let me tell you a story. We were on holiday during one of the school breaks in South Africa. We have many fond memories of the numerous trips we took across the country each time our girls were off from school.

On one such trip, we toured the Garden route. One of the most scenic road trips, known for it’s beauty the world over, the Garden route is a must do for anyone visiting South Africa. It soon became a favorite for us and we did it several times during our time in the country, There are many memories of the route and one such memory is about the time when we stopped at the Mohair mill shop in an area called the Crags. The crags is an area about 20 kms from Plettenberg bay, very stunning and a must see while on the Garden route. There’s a lot to do here with wildlife sanctuaries, theatre, beautiful scenery and tons of art and crafts works. If you trace the origins of the word, Crags, it is believed to have been given by early English settlers and refers to the craggy nature of the surrounding mountains and the crevasses carved into their slopes by seasonal streams. There’s a lot of history surrounding the Crags and the challenges the area went through, deforestation, fires and lots more but that’s for another time. The main thing is that there’s a lot being done to preserve and restore the indigenous flora and fauna and bring back the natural and cultural history of the Crags. Tourism and revenue plays a big part there and the Mohair mill shop along the road to Monkeyland helps do just that. 

We initially stumbled on it by curiosity. Ha ha…yes, we love exploring, and so when we saw a sign saying the Mohair Mill, off we went. It’s a relatively big complex, with the most beautiful mohair blankets and so much more. The philosophy is to source and promote local products and one can find all sorts of things there, local cookbooks, pottery, kitchen stuff, gifts, Zulu shirts, leather wallets, belts… you get the point…it’s almost impossible to leave without something. There’s also a restaurant on the complex with some resident goats that children love to feed. 

But coming to the mohair itself. Perhaps you were not aware, but South Africa produces approximately half the world’s mohair, which makes it the largest producer of mohair in the world. Beautiful, fine mohair is produced as a result of the high breeding standards and strict farming. The natural fibre has a high-quality sheen and many natural properties and the Mohair production process is a synergistic relationship between the goats and humans making it a sustainable, ethical farming practice.  The Angora goat is a Turkish breed of a domesticated goat that produces the lustrous fibre known as mohair. Mohair is obtained by shearing the goat twice a year starting at six months of age. I have to say, the Mohair mill shop produces beautiful blankets and socks. Their socks are particularly made to protect the feet from blisters and are used for hiking and adventure sport..helping keep the feet warm and dry. The mohair is expertly interwoven into the sock to give it that special feeling of warmth. 

We can vouch for these as we’ve used them and continue to do so till date. And yes, you’ll find the beautiful Mohair blanket on our bed to this day, almost a decade later still being used daily. It seems that mohair can last a lifetime if kept well and with care. Well, for us, our mohair blanket has traveled across the world and still works just fine….so yes, it does last a lifetime.

Well, within this complex, there’s a pottery studio. Porcupine ceramics and it manufacturs hand crafted ceramic items inspired by the art and animals of Africa. What’s interesting is that these are made using the ancient Japanese firing method of ‘Raku’ which gives an interesting crackled effect as there is rapid cooling of the glaze after coming out of an extremely hot kiln. This causes the glaze to shrink and to stretch opening fine cracks defined by carbon infiltration while smouldering in a firepit smothered with wood shavings. The artisans come from the surrounding Crags areas and draw inspiration from their natural surroundings creating the most beautiful objects.

Well, we splurged a little and bought the most beautiful ceramic art in the form of a fish all of a feet and a half long and 10 inches wide, nicely propped on a metal sturdy stand from this studio. It was packed into a special polyurethane foamed pack for maximum protection as it traveled to Pretoria where we were living at the time. And yes, we found a beautiful spot for it in our home. Each time we looked at it, beautiful memories came back. And then we were moving. Leaving South Africa for our next destination.

And decided to take our beautiful fish back home to India to our home there rather than traveling to different places. So, once again wrapped up and put in the suitcase to make its journey. Well, this time it didn’t quite work. Imagine the dismay when we found the fish broken in several places as it made its transcontinental journey. Got some lessons there on transporting such stuff and yes, it hasn’t broken since even though it’s done some journeys since. But it did break that time. And little realizing I was practicing kintsugi, I sat down to put it together. The fish today has a special spot in our home, the crackled effect of the pottery technique merging with the kintsugi technique of putting it back together – all in all creating a masterpiece of sorts. And yes, there definitely isn’t another piece like it anywhere in the world! 

The learnings from Kintsugi, of resilience, of showing the scars beautifully and proudly, of life going on…scars and all; of seeing beauty in something that is broken and mended, and of continuing to create memories and not regretting or lamenting over spilt milk has remained with me and our family. One of the side effects of moving 28 times in a span of 3 decades means that things will get broken. But kintsugi has shown that nothing is beyond repair and what emerges is even more special and beautiful. We are more relaxed and if one could say ‘cool’ about moving …ha ha. Definitely no stress about things reaching safely…because if they don’t…there’s always kintsugi!

Fellow Mavericks, I urge you to pause and think a bit…in life there are many occasions where we are broken and down….apply kintsugi and build back something that is even more beautiful and special. From my personal experience, you’ll never be disappointed. 

Keep up the high spirits, folks and send in your comments and experiences of black tie events at  ‘theordinarymaverick@gmail.com’ and follow me on Instagram #theordinarymaverick.  I love hearing from you. This is Ajey, signing off and wishing you have an amazing day and a super amazing year! Keep well.