SUMMER 2025 | By Dr. Charlotte Wang
Chief Administrative Officer and Majority Partner at Integral Advantage®, an IACET-accredited organization committed to cultivating leadership and strategic organizational capacity across private and public sector entities. You can follow her on LinkedIn.
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The Art and Philosophy of Kintsugi
In Japanese culture, there is an art known as Kintsugi, meaning “golden repair.” When a delicate object breaks, it is not discarded; instead, it is repaired by mending the cracks with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, which enhances its value even further.
Philosophically, Kintsugi is rooted in wabi-sabi, the Japanese worldview that finds beauty in imperfection, impermanence, and the passage of time. It reflects the idea that scars and flaws can be meaningful and valuable, not things to be hidden. This philosophy is a profound metaphor for how we approach adversity in our lives.
The Breaking Points of Life
In my assessment, time doesn’t heal it all, as it often influences how we feel and react to what we perceive, consciously or unconsciously, as similar traumatic events. Throughout life, we face moments that seem capable of breaking us. We experience times that feel overwhelming: losing loved ones, failing at work, being betrayed by a friend, or feeling like we’re not good enough.
Admittedly, these moments come suddenly, are painful, and often leave us feeling broken. No one can escape hardship. Those moments fracture the story of who we thought we were and disrupt our sense of safety, as well as our place in the world.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, explains how trauma is not just a memory. It does not fade away but becomes embedded in the body and mind, affecting relationships, self-perception, and physical health. Healing requires more than suppression—it requires integration and reconnection.
Kintsugi offers a powerful metaphor for personal growth and healing: Just as broken pottery is repaired with gold to create something more beautiful, our emotional scars and life challenges can become sources of strength, resilience, and character. Rather than hiding our past struggles, Kintsugi teaches us to embrace them as essential parts of who we are and to embrace the journey of healing.
The Courage to Acknowledge and Begin
Embracing our “scars” is the starting point of healing. It requires that we first recognize within ourselves that something had a negative impact. “I made a mistake,” while fully realizing what the mistake was. “What you did hurt me!” while accepting that we will need to work through it intentionally. “Losing my childhood friend was one of the most difficult periods of my life.” When you accept and find clarity in the experience, you choose to begin the healing process. You start to fill the fractures with gold, one at a time.
The Power of Imperfection
Too often, we believe we can only move forward once we’ve “fixed” ourselves, silenced the past, or erased the pain. But that belief keeps us stuck. In reality, the journey of healing begins the moment we stop hiding our wounds and start honoring them.
Personal growth doesn’t come from pretending we’re unscathed; it comes from facing what’s broken with courage and care. Like the golden seams in Kintsugi, our imperfections can become a testament to survival, wisdom, and strength. They are not signs of failure, but symbols of transformation.
When we accept what has hurt us, what has changed us, and what is still healing within us, we shift from shame to self-compassion. We stop waiting for perfection and start reclaiming our power piece by piece. In doing so, we don’t just repair what was damaged—we build something stronger, more resilient, and uniquely beautiful. Nothing is ever truly broken, not beyond the possibility of healing, not beyond hope.
What feels like an ending is often the beginning of something more profound. With time, care, and self-compassion, we don’t just recover—we evolve. The pieces may never fit exactly as they once did, but that’s not a flaw; it’s a testament to the enduring nature of love. It’s an invitation to rebuild with intention, to shape a version of ourselves that’s stronger, wiser, and more aligned with who we are becoming.
Reflection and Renewal
Like the Kintsugi way, our journey through pain transforms us. We become people who carry their wounds not as scars to be hidden, but as golden seams—symbols of resilience and renewal.
Think about a moment that “broke” you, personally or professionally. How did it shape the person you are today? If your healing were a piece of Kintsugi pottery, where would the gold appear?
A Final Thought
Healing is not a destination—it’s a way of being. Like Kintsugi, it asks us to see beauty in the broken, not by erasing the damage, but by honoring it with care and reverence. The journey is neither linear nor straightforward, but it is deeply human. And when we choose to repair rather than discard—to stay open rather than shut down—we begin to see that we are not less because of what we’ve endured. We are more, not in spite of the cracks, but because of them.
2025 © Integral Advantage®
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