Approaching a new year with a new story

In February 2020 I flew back to the UK after visiting my son in Canada.

When we landed it was into a very different world from the one we’d left a few months earlier.

The past three years have created changes that have affected us all in many different ways and caused many of us to question how we work and what’s most important to us.

When things are tough and we’re hurting it can be tempting to put a brave face on things and pretend everything is OK – but there’s another option.

The 15th-Century practice of kintsugi is a way of repairing things that are broken with no attempt to hide the damage.

Kintsugi means “to join with gold”: the wounds are literally illuminated, enhancing the original.

Imagine how it would feel to embrace the inevitable imperfections in our lives, whether in appearance, character or actions, and welcome the process that leads us to find opportunities not just to repair but to enhance and improve the whole.

Imagine if that process helps us to recognise and respect the inherent value in other people and appreciate the potential that we all carry.

The idea that the process of repairing adds value tells us we can always begin anew… not perfect but different and with more to offer each other than before.

We are so much more than the sum of our previously broken parts.

Enlightened by the experiences of relapse, recovery and reinvention.

Enriched by the relationships we forge, develop and cherish.

Empowered and authenticated by the scars from battles we survive.

My wish for us all in the coming year is that we come to it strengthened, repaired and illuminated where we’ve been damaged, and with a renewed purpose to make the world a better place for all of us.