Ah Corelle, the old classic. Those simple dinnerware plates that could withstand anything. From plain white to decorated like their paper cousins, they were and still are a staple in American homes. I’ve seen countless plates fall to the kitchen floor with nary a crack. They are “nearly” indestructible. You might still have a mess on the floor, but you won’t scoot your kids out of the room while you sweep glass for the next twenty minutes.
By contrast, real china dinnerware must be handled carefully, like carrying bomb whose clock has just started to tick faster and faster. China can’t tolerate rough handling, rapid temperature changes, bumps, jostles, or drops. Fine chinaware sits in the dining room buffet, staring out at us through dusty windows, longing to be used, yet knowing deep down that even on “special occasions” it will never hold your birthday cakes, your fancy dinner parties, your tea with a grieving friend. Fine chinaware sits alone, staring out as our ordinary lives shouldn’t risk something so fancy and so fragile.
Corelle is so rugged because it has endured extremely high heat. It is two sheet of high tempered glass, brough red hot by time in an oven, sandwiched over a dense core. It has already seen its toughest days before you walk past it on the department store shelves or scroll past with your laptop mouse pad. Corelle has been through more than you could ever throw at it; it has survived true adversity and torture.
The Japanese has a time-honored technique to repair broken things. Kintsugi translates as “join with gold.” An artist will repair a broken ceramic cup, saucer, or teapot by reassembling the shattered pieces with a putty made of gold dust. The resulting piece is reglazed and presented as something new.
Kintsugi teaches us that even broken things have value.
Kintsugi teaches us that nothing is permanent, but everything must change.
Kintsugi teaches us that trauma and wounds are a part of our experience and we must address these issues.
Kintsugi teaches us that sometimes, we must show the world the beauty of our wounds and how we have mended them.
Kintsugi teaches us that even broken things can be beautiful.
We are upset when we drop our highly prized chinaware plate or cup. We sigh and discard it. Now our set serving of eight is incomplete forever.
But that serving piece could have even more value if we repaired it with gold and made it into a work of artisan craftmanship. It could still have purpose; it could still serve cake or tea.
Our lives are fraught with adversity. We have tough lives, breakups, deaths, illnesses, etc. Kintsugi reminds us that we can heal our wounds. We can still function, we still have purpose. We must patch our wounds and move forward. We must never feel discarded because we feel broken by tough times.
Corelle is durable because it has been through trauma. It never changes. It will always look the same, and always look like its mates.
Kintsugi china displays great beauty because while it may be fragile, and it may have been broken, it has been mended and made stronger. Its beauty is in its flaws.
We have choices in our lives.
We can be fine chinaware. If we choose to act this way, we must make a secondary choice. We can stay in the dining buffet and never expose ourselves to use and purpose for fear of being broken. Or we can choose to join the world in ordinary daily situations, risking being broken, but always willing to display our beautifully healed traumas and forge ahead.
Or we can be Corelle. We can face adversity and become hard. We can bounce off the traumas in our lives. We can move forward without fear because we have seen the worst and can no longer break save the most aggressive force.
Perhaps we can be both.
Maybe we can be tough enough to face a tough world not only because of our pasts, but perhaps despite them. And when (not if) we are wounded, we can fix ourselves, remain useful and purposeful, and display our unique beauty.
Like chinaware, we are broken uniquely. We are healed uniquely. We are all beautiful and individual; our singular cracks healed by gold. Perhaps these gold mends make us as tough as Corelle.
I say, you are not broken.
You have survived all the drops and breaks up to this date. You are still here. You still have purpose. You still have a unique beauty. You are always in the process of mending, becoming tougher, becoming more beautiful and more lovely every day. You still have value, despite your wounds and trauma. You can still provide. You can still give.
You are not broken.
You are mending.
Becoming more golden every new sunrise.
No one wants to be a plain white plate, fashioned for mundane use, not considered for special occasions.
Be beautiful, because your life has been interesting and tumultuous.
Weeg
Joe “Weeg” Weigant is a Board Certified Massage Therapist, Holistic Health Authority, Reiki Master Teacher, Herbalist, Metaphysician, and Empowerment Coach. He combines bodywork, energy work, and coaching to improve quality of life by healing from the outside in and from the inside out.
Weeg sells Nature’s Sunshine Products, Pure Herbs Ltd., doTERRA, and Juice Plus+. Weeg suggests lifestyle changes and provides herbal remedies to his clients so they may build new habits for long life and vibrant health. He teaches Karate and Tai Chi, Reiki Certification, as well as seminars and workshops in metaphysical and spiritual matters. Weeg is available for sessions at Tri State Holistic Wellness by appointment only.
Contact by text 812.568.5356, or Facebook Messenger to set an appointment.
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