Kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery is a celebrated tradition, known to civilization for ages now. This delicate tradition is built on the idea of embracing flaws and imperfections, to celebrate and glorify those cracks, make the broken pieces stronger and in the process make them more beautiful.
Human knowledge is almost 300,000 years old. We have made incredible leaps in learning the surroundings, its flora and the fauna. Our brains have just been casually evolving, solving problems, and figuring out how to make fire and invent the wheel. We have even emulated novels and movies of sci-fi and have built our own Matrix. We are now at the horizon where human intelligence is meeting and greeting the Agent Smiths of AI.
Through the world wars, the natural disasters, the plagues, the epidemics, the pandemic and probably a few too many reality TV shows, adrenaline of the human progress has not fazed. Rather each such catastrophe has bolstered us to be creative and inspired us to reimagine our lives. I am truly amazed and dazed at the exponential achievements of one true wonder, the human mind.
And yet, I feel that this one true wonder, our mind, has been ignored for long. Probably, the highest faculty is selfless, it truly does not want the attention to itself, like the elders in the family, always busy in taking care of others. It just keeps whirring and making those synaptic connections and creating the Aha moments for us as long as it can. Even when all other members of the anatomy family are resting, it is working to keep us replenished, show us the magical dreams.
It’s no wonder the mind is such a curious, mysterious place. Once, if at all, you can journey to the insides of the cavern, you will be left gaping. It’s like the universe’s best-kept secret—like that elusive actor who never gives interviews. We think we know it, but we really don’t. After all, even the best scientists still can’t fully explain why we suddenly get that “Eureka!” moment while brushing our teeth. At best the wise people have created their perspectives around what act of it they have beholden.
As we hit midlife (ah, the age of self-reflection, when we start wondering if we’re doing this whole life thing right), it suddenly becomes a tricky customer. So far it had never failed us. It's gotten us through everything— warmed us up with the hormonal rushes in our teens, pushed us to chase our dreams in the twenties, made us stay sane in our thirties, and occasionally even helped us to avoid face-planting in a pile of laundry. But, when all that has happened and it is time to pause a bit, it goes berserk. The other members plead to slow down but the eldest does not know how to do it, no one has ever taught it.
So, how do we heal it, or even recognize that it needs help? How do we fix the cracks in our mental pottery? Some folks are better at it than others. They’ve learned to tune into those buzzing channels of constant mental chatter and tell them to chill out. Not everything needs to be processed at warp speed. As for me, I’ve been trying to dig into the depths of my mind like Indiana Jones searching for treasure—looking for some magical metal to patch up those mental cracks. But so far - nothing.
Guess I’ll just keep working on it. After all, even the best art takes time.