When you mentioned the Japanese art of repairing objects, this reminds me that I'm healing from shingles and I'll need to repair the skin in my face. Should I sparkle gold dust on my skin after it heals? I have a feeling the skin won't be the same as it was before.
May and June are my favorite months. Both of my grandmothers, and two dogs I knew were all born in May. And the May flowers are the best, in my opinion--especially lilacs.
Patricia, I am sorry that you've had shingles. What misery! I'm glad you are recovering now, and I suspect you were kidding about sprinkling gold dust on your face, but I think adding some sparkle to your usual face-care routine is not a bad idea. I have lived my whole life with freckled Celtic skin (and now sun-wrinkles) that I have never tried to hide. I prefer to use a facial balm with some sparkle to it, to celebrate my face. (I use Jones Road Beauty's Miracle Balm in "golden hour" if you want a specific recommendation.)
How lovely that you have May antepasados and beloved companions to celebrate! And the flowers, yes. We are deep in drought, so the desert wildflowers are very sparse here this year, but the lilacs in town are blooming now. Such an evocative scent!
Yesterday, a friend and I were discussing an organization where we both once had affiliations. In our perception, the organization's leaders alternately pretended that nothing was wrong or that a problem had been sufficiently handled. These were often huge problems--no one with awareness could miss them, and people were insulted when the problems seemed to be erased, ignored, or magically "solved." It seems like Kintsugi would provide a good metaphor for a healthier organization, one willing to acknowledge errors and also transparency in addressing them.
This is such an interesting comment, Christina. Thank you. I hadn't thought of Kintsugi as a model for organizational behavior, but I agree: it would make an instructive way for organizations to look at their ability to be honest and transparent in their process of addressing issues, and perhaps using those issues as ways to illustrate the organization's growth and evolution. Honoring them as part of the organization's structure and growth, as it were. I think that adopting a Kintsugi as a loose metaphor could be healthy.
Happy Beltane to you too, Susan, and thank you for adding to my admittedly skimpy knowledge of the meaning of this day. I also love that you mentioned kintsugi. I have a whole chapter in my book devoted to that. I use it with my counseling clients (and myself, in the book) as a metaphor for healing from trauma ... but I love how you're applying it here to our overall state of the world now. Thank you for that!
Jeanne, I dug more deeply into Celtic spirituality and holy days in my Year of Spiritual Thinking project, so there's more about Beltane in this post from last May: https://practicingterraphilia.substack.com/p/year-of-spiritual-thinking-52-month I'm not surprised that your book has a chapter on Kintsugi and that you use it with your counseling clients--you have such a wealth of knowledge to bring to understanding and healing ourselves! Blessings and a hug to you.
I love your insights into Beltane and kintsugi. In learning about my Celtic heritage, I learned about the importance of Beltane and I love how you wove it into our current crisis. I would love to see all the cracks filled with love and respect for everyone.
Thanks, Susan. Your vision of all the cracks in our world filled with love and respect for everyone is generous and beautiful! Blessings to you and yours.
I so enjoyed this essay! I learned a bit about kintsugi years ago from a potter. I didn't know that tree sap was used.
Used as a metaphor for repairing what is broken in our world offers some quick thoughts from me: keeping the structure (e.g., democractic ideals), examining and understanding the broken parts and how they fit together, using highlighting new strategies and ideas as the repairing glue.
A design process filled with respect for the old and hope for new.
RE: Flying experience and design
You will likely notice the re-design of seating for the budget flyers. You will be expected to fit into a 3x3 space where you can't easily remove a jacket or sweater without elbowing your neighbor and going to the bathroom becomes an ordeal if you are in a window seat.Then there's the experience of the smallest bathrooms every. My tips: wear a shawl for easy off and on and
That's a good description of how the metaphor of Kintsugi could be applied to the actual process of repairing our democracy, Sue. I especially like "new strategies and ideas" as the repairing glue to fit the broken parts of the structure of democratic ideals together again. Thank you.
And your comments on flying today made me chuckle. Thanks much for the advice! Carefully occupying that 3X3 space will be a challenge indeed. Fortunately I am slight in frame, and not tall, so that should make it easier. And also fortunately, none of my four flights (two each way) are much longer than an hour. The best part is that I'm flying directly out of Montrose, so I have a ten-minute drive to the airport!
Happy May, Susan. Happy Beltane. My grandmother Julia had lilacs along the fence line of her little yard and they towered over everyone, they grew so tall. For that one sweet blooming , too short in my opinion, season there was nothing a beautiful as their scent or their color. What I love about your piece is the demonstration of the ongoing cycle of blooming, breaking and repair -- the universal human experience.
Stephanie, This: "The ongoing cycle of blooming, breaking and repair--the universal human experience." Yes! Beautifully put, and thank you for summing it up so succinctly and richly. Thanks also for sharing your grandmother Julia's lilacs. I can smell them and see those towering shrubs. What a gift! Blessings to you.
I hope you had a lovely Beltane, dear Susan. My way of celebrating yesterday was to take the day off from my computer and spend most of the time outside. Hence, I'm a day late in reading this superb message. Thank you for sharing your amazing ability to combine facts with feelings that go right to the heart of what we are all going through right now. Of course I was very familiar with the maypole, having participated in one throughout my school years. But I had not known about kintsugi. It is a perfect, hopeful approach to getting through this terrible time of breaking things and norms. And then once again we shall put the pieces back together again... hopefully, in a meaningful and beautiful way.
Liz, I'm so glad you played hooky yesterday and got outside to celebrate spring and Beltane. Sometimes it is easier to give ourselves permission to take time off when it's not a work day! I think Kintsugi offers some really important lessons to our culture that reveres youth and newness and perfection. Perhaps this is our opportunity to learn how to mend what is broken with both art and heart, and make our democracy and our society healthier and stronger. Blessings and a hug to you!
When you mentioned the Japanese art of repairing objects, this reminds me that I'm healing from shingles and I'll need to repair the skin in my face. Should I sparkle gold dust on my skin after it heals? I have a feeling the skin won't be the same as it was before.
May and June are my favorite months. Both of my grandmothers, and two dogs I knew were all born in May. And the May flowers are the best, in my opinion--especially lilacs.
Patricia, I am sorry that you've had shingles. What misery! I'm glad you are recovering now, and I suspect you were kidding about sprinkling gold dust on your face, but I think adding some sparkle to your usual face-care routine is not a bad idea. I have lived my whole life with freckled Celtic skin (and now sun-wrinkles) that I have never tried to hide. I prefer to use a facial balm with some sparkle to it, to celebrate my face. (I use Jones Road Beauty's Miracle Balm in "golden hour" if you want a specific recommendation.)
How lovely that you have May antepasados and beloved companions to celebrate! And the flowers, yes. We are deep in drought, so the desert wildflowers are very sparse here this year, but the lilacs in town are blooming now. Such an evocative scent!
Thank you.
Lilacs are a symbol of spring for me. I love the fragrance.
Yesterday, a friend and I were discussing an organization where we both once had affiliations. In our perception, the organization's leaders alternately pretended that nothing was wrong or that a problem had been sufficiently handled. These were often huge problems--no one with awareness could miss them, and people were insulted when the problems seemed to be erased, ignored, or magically "solved." It seems like Kintsugi would provide a good metaphor for a healthier organization, one willing to acknowledge errors and also transparency in addressing them.
This is such an interesting comment, Christina. Thank you. I hadn't thought of Kintsugi as a model for organizational behavior, but I agree: it would make an instructive way for organizations to look at their ability to be honest and transparent in their process of addressing issues, and perhaps using those issues as ways to illustrate the organization's growth and evolution. Honoring them as part of the organization's structure and growth, as it were. I think that adopting a Kintsugi as a loose metaphor could be healthy.
Happy Beltane to you too, Susan, and thank you for adding to my admittedly skimpy knowledge of the meaning of this day. I also love that you mentioned kintsugi. I have a whole chapter in my book devoted to that. I use it with my counseling clients (and myself, in the book) as a metaphor for healing from trauma ... but I love how you're applying it here to our overall state of the world now. Thank you for that!
Jeanne, I dug more deeply into Celtic spirituality and holy days in my Year of Spiritual Thinking project, so there's more about Beltane in this post from last May: https://practicingterraphilia.substack.com/p/year-of-spiritual-thinking-52-month I'm not surprised that your book has a chapter on Kintsugi and that you use it with your counseling clients--you have such a wealth of knowledge to bring to understanding and healing ourselves! Blessings and a hug to you.
Back to you, Susan. And thank you for the link; I will educate myself further on Beltane, thanks to you!
I love your insights into Beltane and kintsugi. In learning about my Celtic heritage, I learned about the importance of Beltane and I love how you wove it into our current crisis. I would love to see all the cracks filled with love and respect for everyone.
Thanks, Susan. Your vision of all the cracks in our world filled with love and respect for everyone is generous and beautiful! Blessings to you and yours.
I so enjoyed this essay! I learned a bit about kintsugi years ago from a potter. I didn't know that tree sap was used.
Used as a metaphor for repairing what is broken in our world offers some quick thoughts from me: keeping the structure (e.g., democractic ideals), examining and understanding the broken parts and how they fit together, using highlighting new strategies and ideas as the repairing glue.
A design process filled with respect for the old and hope for new.
RE: Flying experience and design
You will likely notice the re-design of seating for the budget flyers. You will be expected to fit into a 3x3 space where you can't easily remove a jacket or sweater without elbowing your neighbor and going to the bathroom becomes an ordeal if you are in a window seat.Then there's the experience of the smallest bathrooms every. My tips: wear a shawl for easy off and on and
avoid too much hydrating!
That's a good description of how the metaphor of Kintsugi could be applied to the actual process of repairing our democracy, Sue. I especially like "new strategies and ideas" as the repairing glue to fit the broken parts of the structure of democratic ideals together again. Thank you.
And your comments on flying today made me chuckle. Thanks much for the advice! Carefully occupying that 3X3 space will be a challenge indeed. Fortunately I am slight in frame, and not tall, so that should make it easier. And also fortunately, none of my four flights (two each way) are much longer than an hour. The best part is that I'm flying directly out of Montrose, so I have a ten-minute drive to the airport!
Thinking of repairing our world this way makes it easier to bear. Thank you. Safe travels.
Thank you, Karen. I haven't flown in so long that I have to read all the rules before I pack, but I imagine it will all go well, despite my worrying!
Happy May, Susan. Happy Beltane. My grandmother Julia had lilacs along the fence line of her little yard and they towered over everyone, they grew so tall. For that one sweet blooming , too short in my opinion, season there was nothing a beautiful as their scent or their color. What I love about your piece is the demonstration of the ongoing cycle of blooming, breaking and repair -- the universal human experience.
Stephanie, This: "The ongoing cycle of blooming, breaking and repair--the universal human experience." Yes! Beautifully put, and thank you for summing it up so succinctly and richly. Thanks also for sharing your grandmother Julia's lilacs. I can smell them and see those towering shrubs. What a gift! Blessings to you.
I hope you had a lovely Beltane, dear Susan. My way of celebrating yesterday was to take the day off from my computer and spend most of the time outside. Hence, I'm a day late in reading this superb message. Thank you for sharing your amazing ability to combine facts with feelings that go right to the heart of what we are all going through right now. Of course I was very familiar with the maypole, having participated in one throughout my school years. But I had not known about kintsugi. It is a perfect, hopeful approach to getting through this terrible time of breaking things and norms. And then once again we shall put the pieces back together again... hopefully, in a meaningful and beautiful way.
Much love to you,
Liz
Liz, I'm so glad you played hooky yesterday and got outside to celebrate spring and Beltane. Sometimes it is easier to give ourselves permission to take time off when it's not a work day! I think Kintsugi offers some really important lessons to our culture that reveres youth and newness and perfection. Perhaps this is our opportunity to learn how to mend what is broken with both art and heart, and make our democracy and our society healthier and stronger. Blessings and a hug to you!
Merry May!
Thanks, Jill! Merry May and happy "un-forgetting" to you as you continue to re-story history.
Gorgeous!
Thanks, Becca! Beltaine blessings to you....