Kintsugi: Mending With Gold

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. This method of mending treats the breakage as a part of the history of the object rather than something to be hidden. In this art, there is no attempt to hide the damage, but the repair is literally highlighted.

Kintsugi is a general concept of highlighting or emphasizing imperfection. Lets imagine you have a precious piece of China you love so much and it gets broken - if you had an option to fix it would you not embrace it with it's imperfect state.Sometimes as parents we have no choice but to love of children regardless of their behavior - we embrace them with their imperfections.

The challenges we face in life sometimes leaves us scared or broken. As an entrepreneur we often question our abilities to continue after we have failed several times - the challenges we face may have been something we couldn't control:  for example having your business demolished after five years of hard work and sweat by the government. Are you having a rough start with setting up your business? Apply the philosophy of Kintsugi to your situation. 


The challenge most aspiring entrepreneurs face is PERFECTION. They are waiting for the perfect time to start, perfect location, perfect investor and so on. One thing I have learnt over the years is that your ideas are not unique to you - what actually differentiates us is the will to move and the ability to risk it all.  So I had this idea to set-up a food shop: I was quite excited because based on my study of the area I would have little or no competition. When the location was put up for rent, I wavered with whether to start or not - I was waiting for the perfect time to speak with the owner of the space, waiting for the right amount of money and a host of other excuses. Today, that very space has be rented out to someone doing exactly the same business I had intended to do! So while I was waiting for perfection, I was overtaken.

It is the challenges that you face in your business that tells your inspirational story of success. Be proud of them, celebrate and know that one day you will be more valuable for having them. What ever situation that has been broken can be fixed with gold to make it more precious.

“There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.” ~ Leonard Cohen

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