I cannot tell you how much I love this piece. How much I completely take to heart the truth of what is at stake here. Speaking personally, I just started writing a piece that speaks to the necessity of taking care of memories by instilling my heart into the life of the objects in my everyday world. Not as transcendence, but as the necessary conversations of knowing. Knowing myself, what clarity of thought I am required to muster for courage. Thank you for writing this piece! The timing proves the heart is the servant who knows.
I absolutely love how you just described that! I really agree that it’s about knowing and about honoring the life of the objects that we are in conversation with just like you said! And how memory comes into it. Thank you so much for this!!!!!!! You know how sometimes when you write things you feel like you’re just throwing things out into the dark and so it just means so much to hear from you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This has to be one of the best pieces of yours, Leanne, that I have read. Coming in such a time of despair, it is profound indeed. My mother z**l was an antique dealer and we had a workshop where she and my stepdad repaired porcelain, lacquer, marquetry. Necklaces were restrung and fans rescued with tiny thin silk ribbons. I was always fascinated by the old stapled together bowls and dishes, the trouble people had gone to to rescue them from the midden. I liked to imagine the circumstances of the breakages - meat platters dropped onto stone floors, a clumsy maid sweeping a powder bowl off a dressing table with the lady of the house shrieking at her. I keep my washing up scrubs in a small Meissen jardiniere which has been mended so many times. None of the European repairs come anywhere close to these beautiful kintsugi works of art where the repair becomes an enhancement to the original piece, and a meditation on time and the fragility of life. Thanking you for posting this, seems like your writing residencies are serving you well.
Thank you so much for this, Mandi!! It was so wonderful to hear from you!! and I love imagining your parent’s shop… we live in a throwaway world. I also really appreciated you mentioning this time of despair. I’m really feeling it.
Beautifully written, Leanne! I love this piece. Thanks for introducing the concept of shokunin bunka 職人文化. And for mentioning Wang Yingming - coincidentally it’s the second time I’ve come across his philosophy this week, so I’ll take that as a sign to live it more fully.
It’s so funny because right after I read this comment from you, and thank you so much! A video was in my newsfeed regarding his philosophy, so maybe it’s a sign for me to read more too!! it wasn’t an advertisement and I think it really was a coincidence because somebody posted this https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyYkIpjACKRDrcFwvfUR0lajjMsKNnQbq I haven’t watched the video yet, but I just thought that was such a coincidence!
I haven't seen much kinstugi but I love the idea of it. I mostly use Mashiko-yaki for daily dining and it's almost hard to imagine this sturdy folk-craft ceramic trimmed/mended with gold. But I bet it'd work, somehow. Thanks for another lovely essay.
I cannot tell you how much I love this piece. How much I completely take to heart the truth of what is at stake here. Speaking personally, I just started writing a piece that speaks to the necessity of taking care of memories by instilling my heart into the life of the objects in my everyday world. Not as transcendence, but as the necessary conversations of knowing. Knowing myself, what clarity of thought I am required to muster for courage. Thank you for writing this piece! The timing proves the heart is the servant who knows.
I absolutely love how you just described that! I really agree that it’s about knowing and about honoring the life of the objects that we are in conversation with just like you said! And how memory comes into it. Thank you so much for this!!!!!!! You know how sometimes when you write things you feel like you’re just throwing things out into the dark and so it just means so much to hear from you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Yes! (I don't know how to make those hearts, but here's nine of them! XXXXXXXXX)
This has to be one of the best pieces of yours, Leanne, that I have read. Coming in such a time of despair, it is profound indeed. My mother z**l was an antique dealer and we had a workshop where she and my stepdad repaired porcelain, lacquer, marquetry. Necklaces were restrung and fans rescued with tiny thin silk ribbons. I was always fascinated by the old stapled together bowls and dishes, the trouble people had gone to to rescue them from the midden. I liked to imagine the circumstances of the breakages - meat platters dropped onto stone floors, a clumsy maid sweeping a powder bowl off a dressing table with the lady of the house shrieking at her. I keep my washing up scrubs in a small Meissen jardiniere which has been mended so many times. None of the European repairs come anywhere close to these beautiful kintsugi works of art where the repair becomes an enhancement to the original piece, and a meditation on time and the fragility of life. Thanking you for posting this, seems like your writing residencies are serving you well.
Thank you so much for this, Mandi!! It was so wonderful to hear from you!! and I love imagining your parent’s shop… we live in a throwaway world. I also really appreciated you mentioning this time of despair. I’m really feeling it.
Beautifully written, Leanne! I love this piece. Thanks for introducing the concept of shokunin bunka 職人文化. And for mentioning Wang Yingming - coincidentally it’s the second time I’ve come across his philosophy this week, so I’ll take that as a sign to live it more fully.
It’s so funny because right after I read this comment from you, and thank you so much! A video was in my newsfeed regarding his philosophy, so maybe it’s a sign for me to read more too!! it wasn’t an advertisement and I think it really was a coincidence because somebody posted this https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyYkIpjACKRDrcFwvfUR0lajjMsKNnQbq I haven’t watched the video yet, but I just thought that was such a coincidence!
Amazing!! Thanks for sharing the video which I'll look into. Let's take this as a sign and continue to exchange notes about Wang Yangming.
Me too!
Exquisite. So much food for thought, and I saw the connection between sashiko and kintsugi for the first time!
Also that video... what a find!
Yes!!! In one of my books about Kintsugi the author discussed Sashiko and boro!! 💕❤️💕❤️
I haven't seen much kinstugi but I love the idea of it. I mostly use Mashiko-yaki for daily dining and it's almost hard to imagine this sturdy folk-craft ceramic trimmed/mended with gold. But I bet it'd work, somehow. Thanks for another lovely essay.