Kintsugi, as we explored in our last newsletter not only transforms our deepest wounds into beautiful pieces of art, by integrating it into our daily lives, we can also transform our moment-by-moment experiences and perceptions into vibrant masterpieces of goodness, grace, and gratitude.
Just like we take the time to brush our teeth every morning regardless of how stressed or busy we may be, we can also “brush our deeper self” by taking a few moments to set our intention before our day begins, gently monitoring our behaviors as we engage, and then just before sleep, finishing our day with a short recap and reflection process. Think of it like squeezing a bit of “Kintsugi-paste” onto the “brush of your intention,” monitoring your actions as you brush into your day, and finally rinsing the day away and giving yourself a big sparkling smile of self-love before sleep.
This daily spiritual hygiene is every bit as important to our well-being as is maintaining healthy gums and teeth. With a minimal amount of effort we can transform the moment-by-moment attitudes, approaches and actions we unconsciously project into our daily lives. Let’s review the three Kintsugi practices and put them into the “brushing” context:
1. Making The Impossible Possible: Set aside our self-defeating “stories” and negative self-judgments. Do this by clearing your space before you get out of bed. Acknowledge any disabling stories or limiting beliefs you may be entertaining about yourself or others. Literally imagine them rising into the air and vanishing above you. The moment the last one leaves jump out of bed so it can’t re-lodge in you!
2. Preparing the Medium of Adhesive: Let go of expectations, attachments and obsessive desires. Do this by brushing away any agendas or charged expectations you may be harboring about your day. Essentially surrender up whatever you may be emotionally attached to so there is space for Spirit to work unencumbered through you. Then during your day, continue this same process of letting go and letting Spirit.
3. Re-experiencing Our Broken Pieces: Just as the deeper work of reconstructing the broken pieces existing in our psyches into a beautiful art form requires visualization and gratitude, the same applies to our everyday occurrences. By both monitoring as we engage in our day, as well as reviewing and re-experiencing our behaviors and actions at the day’s close we can acknowledge ourselves for our clarity and wisdom, as well as lovingly include our obscurity and unconsciousness. (The key Kintsugi principle here is to not judge ourselves for what we haven’t accomplished, but instead lovingly integrate the fragments of what we do not like about ourselves into the masterpiece of who we truly are beyond our ego’s judgments.) – Blessings, Val Jon
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