After life leaves us feeling shattered, we can struggle to put the pieces back together. Here’s how to feel whole again.
There’s a Japanese art form based on the idea that wholeness can always be recreated.
When a pot or piece of artwork breaks, in the Japanese tradition, kintsugi is the practice of gluing it back together with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.
Rather than using translucent glue to camouflage the cracks and hide the break, kintsugi artists highlight them. The result is a piece of art that’s given new beauty because the artist decided to showcase the imperfections instead of hiding them away.
Why would an artist highlight imperfections, cracks, and chips? The artist knows a pot without cracks is useful, but when the artist infuses the cracks with gold, a true masterpiece is revealed.
I love kintsugi because it shows us that there’s a different way to think about our past, our breaks, our weaknesses, our traumas, our imperfections.
But more importantly, kintsugi shows us that the experiences that leave us feeling shattered in a moment can, in fact, one day, be our transformation into a masterpiece.
Healing from trauma is a journey similar to kintsugi, where the gold that fills the cracks is our self-development. Through transformational coaching, we can learn to embrace our imperfections and see them as strengths.
The Wholeness Mindset
Wholeness is a mindset.
It’s not a destination or a happy ending. No one can create it for you. And it can’t be taken away from you.
Wholeness is a mindset you can choose to live within – at any time.
And to find wholeness, you just have to shift the way you see it. If you see your circumstance as an opportunity to rebuild something more beautiful, that’s what you’ll do.
You’ll create a new sense of wholeness that tells the story of your resilience, strength, and beauty rather than hides it.
How To Shift Into A Wholeness Mindset
So, how do you make that shift from feeling shattered → to rebuilding your sense of wholeness with an artist’s eye for beauty?
You start paying attention to your mindset. You make the conscious choice to see things differently, and even when it’s hard, you hold onto your new mindset.
Here are a few examples:
- Instead of seeing each challenge as a setback, see it as a step up.
- Instead of focusing on the things that are happening TO you, focus on what’s happening FOR you.
- Instead of worrying about how your circumstances can harm you, consider how they can serve you.
- Instead of seeing yourself as a victim, think about all the ways you’re a victor over your circumstances.
- Instead of seeing the broken pieces, see the possibility of becoming a new masterpiece.
Healing from trauma requires this mindset shift. Through self-development and the guidance of transformational coaching, we can redefine our narratives and live more empowered lives.
Living A Whole Life
Living a whole life is a daily choice. It’s a commitment to believe that there can be beauty in challenge and that happy endings can come from the moments that once shattered us.
It’s a transformation of your mind that, in effect, changes your entire way of being in the world. Your thoughts lift your energy. Your energy lifts your feelings. The shift becomes genuine. And suddenly, you become grateful for the opportunity to put yourself back together in a more beautiful way than you ever thought possible.
It’s living free—that’s what wholeness means to me. Knowing that, as this life continues, we keep transforming. The contributions and love we leave others with along the way are how we become truly timeless, like a kintsugi work of art. Our legacy has meaning, not only for ourselves but for the people we leave behind. That is a whole life.
Healing from trauma is a continuous process integrated into our daily practices of self-development. With the support of transformational coaching, we can navigate life’s challenges with grace and create a legacy that is as beautiful and unique as a Kintsugi masterpiece.
