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Writer's pictureMichelle Leduc Catlin

How to Make Your Life A Work of Art

Updated: Sep 29

Unlocking the Art of Living: Steps to Transform Your Life into a Masterpiece




Sweet September. 


Where did that term come from?


It always feels bittersweet to me.


In Canada, it marks the end of summer and the beginning of the school year.



However you feel or felt about school, there is a kind of clean slate about the start of fall.


And while the nurturing sun fades, cozy sweaters are welcomed.


I suppose I’ve been knitting a figurative sweater lately, surrounding myself with good people, good thoughts, and good food, weaving the threads of my new life in with the viable old ones.


It’s easy in these dark times of division to want to ignore the damage in our lives, as well as in the world.


But the damage, the brokenness, is where the gold lies.


Every failure is an opportunity to learn and grow.


Every proverbial door closing leads to an opening somewhere else.


And every crack can be repaired, creating something more beautiful and unique than before.


Consider the art of kintsugi…


How to Make Your Life A Work of Art

…a traditional Japanese art form that repairs broken pottery with gold. Instead of disguising the cracks, kintsugi artisans deliberately highlight them by filling the broken areas with a special lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.


While we watch so much of the world we thought we understood crumbling around us, we must take the time to mourn, to face the fact that the life we planned may no longer be possible.


This doesn’t have to be a bad thing.


If we are to move past the sadness and despair, if we are to move beyond survival and thrive, we must find the lessons, the beauty, the gold.


“The gold seams not only conceal the cracks but also add an extra layer of value and significance to the repaired object. In kintsugi, the imperfections and scars are not hidden but celebrated….”


We are in a process of reconstructing the world, and many of us are reconstructing our lives.


This is not necessarily a cause for despair.


Our wounds can be the source of our wisdom.


Our imperfections highlight our humanity.


And our scars can be celebrated as a reminder of our courage.


How to Make Your Life A Work of Art

The gold filling becomes a testament to the object's history and the story of its repair, making each piece a unique work of art.



Consider that you are a unique work of art.


That’s not hyperbole.


We were all created at this time and place, for this time and place.


And we are being forged in the fire of uncertainty, chaos, pain and loss.


We are living in a world of brokenness.


But we can fill the cracks with gold and create something stronger and more beautiful.


What is newly possible is limited only by our imagination.


Tikkun Olam is a central concept of Judaism that means to repair the world.


Perhaps this is why we’re here.


Why we chose this time and place.


Leonard Cohen wrote,“There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”


How to Make Your Life A Work of Art

I like Eckhart Tolle’s version as well…


There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets out.


Embrace the cracks.


Allow the light in…and out.


Then fill the cracks with gold and let your imperfections shine.


🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏


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