If we dare to live in the reality that our hopes, beliefs, and self-confidence can easily be broken by the world, we can become Kintsugi. Kintsugi is the traditional art of Japanese pottery that repairs ceramics with gold. Such repair makes the shattered object even stronger than the original.

Becoming broken is the work of the world.

There is not one of us who does not suffer from a broken heart, a bent wing, or a bruised spirit. I think perhaps that is the purpose of living in the world, to test our boundaries, to learn new skills, to be broken so that we can re-member, to greet the person we were sent here to become. Staying whole and unshattered means that we’ve never dared to leave the security of the shelf upon which we rest.

While I’m not sure I believe in God, I do believe that there is intelligence in the universe that can only develop and deepen itself through our experiences, battles, and triumphs. We are the channel through which the universe expresses itself both its past, its present and, most mysteriously, its future.

As we become stronger at the broken places we make our contribution to the evolution of humanity, the planet, and the cosmos. We become players in the enormity of what surrounds us, we become alchemists who learn to take our baser selves and spin gold.

Leslie Malin, LCSW has been a practicing psychotherapist for 40 years, a career/life transition coach, and seminar leader.  She is the author of “Cracked Open: The Transformative Power of Failure, Fear, & Doubt” , available on Amazon and other online book sellers, and is working on her second book, “The Work-Life Principle: Pathways to Purpose, Passion, Authenticity, and Wisdom”.