Mended with Gold: The Beauty in Our Cracks

In this solo episode, Genevieve shares a metaphor that changed the way she sees healing: Kintsugi,  the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. Instead of hiding the cracks, Kintsugi highlights them, honoring the story of what the piece has been through.

Genevieve talks about the cracks in our own lives the heartbreaks, the disappointments, the losses, the moments that left fractures we tried to hide. And how, with time, faith, community, and grace, those same cracks can become the parts of us that shine the most.

You’ll hear stories from past guests, reflections on healing, and a personal look at what it means to be “mended with gold.” If you’ve ever felt broken, unfinished, or unsure how to begin again this one is for you.

Transcript

Genevieve : 0:38

We spend years hiding what's cracked or broken. But maybe the gold is what holds us together. Today I want to talk about the beauty in being broken and how the mending itself can become art. Kinsuki, the Japanese art of repairing pottery with gold, isn't just about fixing what's shattered. It's about honoring every fracture as proof of survival. If you've been piecing yourself back together, this one's for you. Let's talk about the cracks that tried to break us and the gold that mended them. During one of my very first counseling sessions, my counselor compared my own heart like a vase, one with hairline fractures from years of life challenges and hurts. She said, the enemy knows where those fractures are. He'll tap at them until something gives and he has access. Being such a visual learner, that stuck with me. I've tried to patch them up or ignore them, but they're still there. We all have them. That image of the vase hasn't left me. And when I soon after learned about this Japanese art form of kinsugi, it really allowed me to connect the metaphor that those cracks in our lives might be visible, but they can actually become the most beautiful parts of us. The lesson we can all take from this beautiful art of repair is that it allows us to appreciate the scars of life and accept it as an integral part of our journey. So I want to share a lesson, part story, part reflection, on this ancient art form that I learned and the philosophy behind wabi sabi, and how through our own chapters we can see the beauty in what's been mended with gold. So there's this Japanese art form called kinsugi, which means golden joinery. It's the art of repairing treasured objects with real gold dusted in lacquer, silver, or platinum that seal the cracks. Kinsugi doesn't hide the break, but it actually highlights it. Because the culture believes that the pieces' story celebrate the imperfections, making the repaired pieces more unique and valuable. At the heart of Kinsugi is this philosophy of wabi-sabi. Wabi is the beauty of simplicity and authenticity, whereas sabi is this beauty that comes with time, age, and being shaped by life. So instead of pretending nothing ever cracked, Kinsugi can say, This piece is broken, it is repaired, and its story is part of why it's valuable. So every story I've heard on hidden chapters could be its own piece of Kinsugi art. Each one cracked in different places, each one mended in different ways. And there are a couple of great examples in this. In episode five, my friend Stephanie shared her story of leaving an abusive marriage and slowly rebuilding her life. At first she was just surviving, but with the support, faith, and time, she found her voice again. Her strength didn't erase the cracks, it came through them. That's gold. And my friend Molly, from season one, episode eleven and twelve, she shared the heartbreaking loss of her husband and the weight of grief that followed. She didn't rush her healing or pretend everything was okay. But over time, she rebuilt love and family in a way that honored both the loss and the life ahead. The cracks didn't disappear, they just changed shape, and love deepened there. So the pieces never go back to the way it was before. It becomes something new, something stronger, something marked by resilience. The gold in Kinsuki isn't decoration, it's what holds the pieces together. And in our lives, that gold might look like grace or therapy or time or community, or someone who stayed when things were heavy. For my husband, from season two, episode one, the gold looked like honesty, recovery, and the courage to say out loud what he had been carrying alone. When he shared his story publicly, men he served with started to reach out, not only to congratulate him, but to say, me too, I've been carrying this. Sometimes the gold isn't just for us, it's for someone else who sees it and feels less alone. For me, that gold often looks like God's presence. It's the quiet kind that meets me in my fractures, not when I'm polished, but when I'm raw. He picks up the pieces and uses them for his good. When you look back, those experiences made you stronger, and they've allowed you to teach from your own journey. There's a Christian band called Mercy Me, and one of their songs, Dear Younger Me, is one of my favorites. There's a line in the song you can go back and listen to. I can't quote word for word based on copyright laws, but the song sings to this thought that if you could go back and sit with your younger self, do you even know if you'd try to change anything? Because every decision, every mistake, and every moment has shaped you to the person that you are now. It's a beautiful reminder that the past isn't something to erase, it's the gold that shape us. At times we may wish we could go back and rewrite the past, but realizing the past is what built you, those lyrics feel like Kinsugi to me. The choices, even the ones that we regret, are part of the gold lines now. They're what shape who we've become and ultimately who God needs us to be. Kinsugi can also represent gratitude. Gratitude doesn't mean we're thankful the hard things happen. It means we can look back and see what grew there. Strength, compassion, perspective, a softness toward others who are hurting. That's what I saw in Jay, my former student from season one, episode six. He said, always hunt the good stuff. Not because his experience wasn't painful, but because he learned that light can exist even when what broke us. And Jose, my guest from season two, episode four, whose story is filled with resilience, service, and grace, his gratitude was shaped through every chapter. Gold in every crack. And my mom, her story will always remind me that God does his most restorative work in places the world calls broken. That's the ultimate Kinsugi story. So as we move into Thanksgiving, I've been thinking about how gratitude is like gold too. It fills the cracks with light, it doesn't erase the hard parts, but highlights them in a more beautiful, stronger way. It highlights the growth. Next week you'll get to hear from some of the voices you met this season and some from season one sharing what they're thankful for. I love this because it reminds us every single one of us carries cracks, and every one of us shines with gold. So Kinsugi reminds us of how God works. He doesn't erase what broke us, he restores us in ways that make the healing visible. The gold is the grace. The gold is his presence, and the gratitude is recognizing that he never left. So maybe the point was never to try to return to who we were before everything cracked. The breaking changed us. It softened some places and strengthened others. And what I've learned is that God does some of his most loving work right there, in the places we thought were beyond repair. He doesn't hide the cracks. He restores us in a way that lets the healing be seen. Your cracks are not proof of failure. They are evidence that you lived, you endured, and you're still becoming. The gold is the tenderness that came from what once hardened you. The gold is the compassion you now carry for others who are hurting. The gold is the depth in you that could only be formed by walking through what you walked through. The gold is what shape us, strengthen, and connect us to others. So if you're in a fracture right now, I hope you remember this. You are not finished. You are being held. You are being mended with gold. If this stirred something in you, I would love to hold space for your story. You can share your gold lines with me on Substack or send me a message. We are not trying to become whole again. We are already being made whole in the mending, in the healing that you see. We are all Kinsuki art, still being restored, still being held, still becoming something beautiful.