My mom had stayed up cleaning, throwing everything away in a daze.
Before I touched a drop of lacquer, my instructor, Satoko, had me pick up my pen.
Id never looked at something broken so intently.
Photo: Courtesy of POJ Studio
When it became my turn to share, I told my peers that it was too much pressure.
Amazingly, kintsugi is impossible to streamline or quicken.
You cant design fractures, either.
Photo: Courtesy of POJ Studio
Kintsugi artists accept that the universe will continue chipping plates, cups, and bowls.
It should really be called urushi-tsugi, Koyama told me over lunch.
The kin, meaning gold, is more ornamental.
Photo: Courtesy of POJ Studio
I showed my instructor a photo of my mothers cabinet and the covered floor.
I asked if it was possible to repair ceramics that have giant pieces missing.
Can you create new pieces to fill in the gaps?
Photo: Courtesy of POJ Studio
There are fractures that are too severe, too massive to beautify with kintsugi.
Not all breaks can be beautiful lessons, or end in redemption.
But those few days were enough for me to get lost in its slowness.
Kintsugi requires a full-body attention to detailscrucially, details outside of ones own selfthat I found meditative.
This holiday season, that felt like enough.
