02/16/2026
Kintsugi is a Japanese word that means “golden joinery.” It is the centuries-old art of repairing broken pottery using lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum — highlighting rather than hiding the fractures. Rooted in the philosophy of wabi-sabi (embracing imperfection) and mottainai (minimizing waste), it treats breakage as part of an object’s history, creating something more beautiful, resilient, and unique than before.
What a powerful metaphor this is for us as people.
When we fall apart… when we crack and fracture… the gold of recovery can put us back together again.
Recovery doesn’t mean we were never broken.
It means that despite being broken, we learn to move beyond the breakage.
Beauty exists — cracks and imperfections and all.
We become something unique. One of a kind.
Not in spite of the fracture… but because of how it was healed.
We don’t forget the brokenness.
We don’t pretend it didn’t happen.
We realize that recovered brokenness becomes strength. It becomes grace.
I have been broken.
And I am in recovery.
Recovery has made me a different man — one who understands grace, love, and empathy in ways I never did before. I take life one day at a time. I seek to understand myself. I watch days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and I quietly celebrate each one.
I try not to take my recovery for granted.
And I try not to take myself too seriously.
I have learned that my recovery is strengthened when I share it.
The following is original music created from an original poem I wrote, celebrating this journey.
If you choose to listen, I hope it resonates with you as deeply as it does with me.
