Repair and relove

Have you ever broken a vase? What have you done with the shards?

In Italy, there is this custom which tells to keep all your (ceramic) shards together and to throw them away on New Year's Eve and that that should bring you luck. But well... the day after you have broken your vase, you'll probably need one... soooo let's go for a hunt and let's buy a new vase.

This is how Italians - or maybe most of Western and consumerist countries - deal with breaks. But have you ever come across the term "Kintsugi"? It is an oriental method which consists in repairing broken vases with gold dust or foils. By doing so, the broken object gains further more value than it had before. 

I am not sure that for any broken vase in my house, I would apply this method. But perhaps for some...

The thing with Kintsugi, or in general repairs, is that it takes time, dedication and also love to restore an item. It is a lot easier to replace it with some other but I am convinced that if you value the item, for you it is worth investing because you will gain much more "enjoyable" time with this thing - plus it will also gain a much deeper story and connection to yourself as you are the one who gave this object another chance, another life!

I am often asked where I got some key items of my wardrobe... and lots of times the answer is "I got it from my Mama" (Yes, exactly like the song which asks "Baby, where did you get your body from?). I have always loved wearing my Mom's clothes. Firstly, these are pieces which have a story which is inextricably tied to mine. Secondly, it is not that probable that anyone else will walk around with some Joop sunglasses from the 80s - so they become kind of unique, too! Let's understand each other, my Mom did not keep every item she got in the last decades but it would be a shame letting the ones she kept, closed into the drawer! 

I got a bucket bag which my Dad gifted her almost 30 years ago and it was very well loved and I still use it as my everyday bag nowadays. I let it polish and fix it a bit up and now it is my turn to love it!

But not only things can be repaired... I generally believe in second chances - some people call me naive therefore. I would say, I am only very optimistic! Because I believe that things, situations and people can change!
Either way, I think about my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents... I once read a line which said "We come from a period in which you did not throw away broken things - you repaired them and we still continue now."  

It is the same as said earlier, isn't it? It namely is not very different from fixing something because you want it to last.

As I said at the beginning, we really live in a consumerist society. That we produce too much waste to dispose is a known fact and I did not want this post to become political or polemical at all. I actually wanted to give you another perspective on re-pairing, re-using, re-loving certain objects. I hope, I succeeded.