broken hearts and Kintsugi

REPAIRED HEART (KINTSUGI STUDY, #4) 2015 by TJ Volonis
(Credit: vanderbiltrepublic.com)

Artist TJ Volonis evocatively expresses how Kintsugi can help us come to terms with human mortality in his 2015 exhibit Pagan Poetry, which featured several ceramic works mended with urushi lacquer. 

The sculpture “Repaired Heart” leaves little doubt that a broken heart becomes more beautiful when it is treated as something precious, tended with concentration and care.

a broken heart
is pain full (not a typo), 
but also uniquely beautiful

big hearts can be broken
little hearts can be broken
any heart that is not calloused will be hurt

there is no limit to what the source might be

a strain
an injury 
an illness 

the loss of something dear
whether it be a possession or position,
a dream, a hope or a loved one 

the severity varies

no two people react or heal the same because
no two hearts are created the same
no two lives include the same experiences

the source doesn't matter-
pain is pain
and pain hurts

so I have a suggestion

regardless 
of what caused the brokenness 
of what we think we would do in that situation

let's not judge
let's not compare
let's not tell people how they should feel

rather, 

let's practice the Japanese art of *Kintsugi

in our lives

in the lives of others

how?

let's be kind,

let's be gentle, 

let's be patient,

let's be compassionate

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." Romans 12:15

from wikipedia:

Kintsugi (金継ぎ^?, きんつぎ, "golden joinery"), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い^?, きんつくろい, "golden repair"),^[1] is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique.^[2][3][4] As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.