KINTSUGI: The Art of Enhancing Broken Pottery (& How This Applies to YOU!!!)...

November 13, 2020

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KINTSUGI: The Art of Enhancing Broken Pottery (& how this applies to YOU!)…

(Kintsugi art curtsy of Morty Bachar www.lakesidepottery.com)

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I first learned about Kintsugi as it relates to presbyphonia (“the aging voice”) & @phorte voice_therapy. I absolutely LOVE PhoRTE & its evidence-based approach, & I use it with patients all of the time. I truly found beauty in the idea of Kintsugi as presented to me through PhoRTE but also as I further pondered the concept.

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Kintsugi is a Japanese art form that involves the restoration of broken ceramic pottery using a technique that incorporates liquid gold, silver, or platinum to BOND pieces BACK TOGETHER. The philosophy behind this art is that BREAKAGE & RESTORATION are BOTH PART OF AN OBJECT’S HISTORY, RATHER THAN ATTRIBUTES TO HIDE. How beautiful is the recognition of this truth?! With Kintsugi, artisans create truly individual works of ART…& NO ONE PIECE OF POTTERY IS LIKE THE OTHER (due to the randomness of the “breakage”). Kintsugi teaches us not to view broken objects as useless or no longer of value. It reminds & encourages us that we can repair broken objects, & with those enhancements, restored objects can & will attain greater value. THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE JOURNEY, & EVERYBODY HAS A STORY.

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Kintsugi is an awesome analogy to voice therapy for presbyphonia, as patients can feel less confident about communicating & interacting with others. They may feel “held back” because of their voice & question their ability to contribute to society in a meaningful way. Can’t we all relate to this even if we don’t have age-related changes to our voice? How do we act or feel if we experience trauma? Life changes or events? Death or loss of relationships? Or if we realize the inability to “do the things we used to do” (whatever that may mean to you)? Or even if/when we experience a vocal injury that dramatically changes our life & what we are “able” to do within the often stringent expectations we place upon ourselves?

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Change in voice is simply an event in life—just like other changes or “mountains” we may experience— they are all part of the JOURNEY. With a Kintsugi-style mindset, we can refine our voices & lives & celebrate the uniqueness of changes that make us more into who we are meant to be, as we embrace the breakage & restoration that illuminate our beautiful journeys. Just like Kintsugi celebrates new beauty in an otherwise “dismissed” piece of pottery (because it was chipped or cracked or presumed “damaged”), we can & SHOULD do the same with ourselves. “You are more beautiful because you have been broken” (Kintsugi).

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"In Japan, broken objects are often repaired with GOLD. The flaws seen as a unique piece of the object's history, which adds to its beauty. Consider this when you feel broken"...

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"Kintsugi: the ancient Japanese art of mending broken objects with gold teaches us that if we choose to embrace our struggles and repair ourselves with love, we become more beautiful for having been broken"...

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"kintsukuroi: (n.) (v. phr.) "to repair with gold"; the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken"...

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"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with GOLD. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has history it becomes more beautiful"...

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#voxfit #voice #voicefitness #vocalfitness #vox #voicesfittoinspire #kintsugi #phortevoicetherapy #presbyphonia #findjoyinthejourney #speechpathologist #voicespecialist #embracethejourney #growthmindset

"Kintsugi art courtesy of Morty Bachar www.lakesidepottery.com"