“The imperfections your coworkers see as weaknesses can turn out to be strengths for you. Your imperfections are part of what make you perfectly yourself.”
Jean smiled. “Perfectively myself? I like that.”
“Mathew Kelly also talks about the Japanese art form Kintsugi,” Bob went on.
“Kin . . .su . . . ghee?”
Bob nodded. “Yeah. If we break a vase or a bowl, we throw it away and buy a new one, right?”
“Yes, most of the time.”
“If we apply that concept to life, that maintains the illusion that life is not messy, that it is always neat, without breaks or cracks. But life is messy, and perfection is a myth. In Kintsugi, when a vase or bowl breaks, they gather up the pieces and glue them together,” Bob said, motioning with his hands. “But they mix gold dust in with the glue so that when it’s all put together again, the cracks stand out in gold. They don’t try to hide the cracks. They own them. They honor them. They celebrate the cracks as part of their story. So,” Bob concluded, “that’s why I mentioned your gold cracks. Never look at yourself through the eyes of those who see you as imperfect just because you don’t have a college degree, are not a teacher, or are older.”
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