Brian Johnson delivers a short +1 micro-lesson connecting a coaching anecdote to the Japanese art of kintsugi (golden repair). He recounts sharing the 'shattered vase' mosaic metaphor with coaches, then describes how head coach Michael prompted a Google search that surfaced Kintsugi—repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold (treating breakage as part of an object's history). Johnson frames kintsugi as a metaphor: instead of hiding our wounds, we should display and integrate them as 'precious scars.'
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. In our last plus one, we talked about Steven Joseph's shattered vase metaphor to help us understand one powerful way to respond to trauma. Rather than try to tape and glue the shattered vase back together, we take the pieces and make a mosaic. I recently shared that wisdom in one of our 2.5 hour marathon coaching sessions with our coaches. Note, spending time coaching our coaches is one of my favorite things. Now, right after I shared the wisdom, our head coach Michael said it reminded him of the Japanese art of repairing broken vases and ceramics with gold. Enter Google Search to learn more about this beautiful art form. Search Japanese Broken Pottery Gold Enter Kintsugi Result number one from Wikipedia tells us Kintsugi golden joinery or golden repair, is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer, dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. Result number two is entitled the Art of Precious Scars and tells us, I quote, by repairing broken ceramics, it's possible to give a new lease of life to pottery that becomes even more refined thanks to its scars. The Japanese art of kintsugi teaches that broken objects are not something to hide, but to display with pride. And it continues by saying, when a bowl, teapot or precious vase falls and breaks into a thousand pieces, we throw them away angrily and regretfully. Yet there is an alternative, a Japanese practice that highlights and enhances the breaks, thus adding value to the broken object. It's called kintsugi, literally golden repair. Kintsugi, the word literally means gold in repair. How awesome is that? Today's +1 you got any broken parts in your life? Echo? Of course you do. You're human. Rather than try to hide them, let's wear those precious scars like metals and make them part of our life's art. Today.
