Kintsugi is a Japanese word that means Golden Joinery. It is the ancient art of fixing broken pottery and ceramics by using a golden powder in lacquer to mend the cracks beautifully. It is a philosophy that does not attempt to cover up brokenness but instead celebrates the fault as part of the object’s history.
We can see a contemporary (or a long ago in a galaxy far away) version of this philosophy near the beginning of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), when Kylo Ren uses not gold, but an unnamed red liquid, to repair his helmet yet still show the cracks from battle and its former destruction.
The above quote by the Hermione actor from Harry Potter refers to not being afraid of showing your character and being proud of your scars.
A perfect person has no character if they have never been tested or broken. They are not tempered by experience; they are weak.
To be more than a cipher or an empty-headed vessel, a person must understand why they wish to stay alive. They cannot follow the herd or do as expected.
Ultimately, a person must find their purpose and a reason to exist in a world without meaning.
How do I know the world has no meaning?
First, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “meaning” means; an idea represented by a word or a phrase or expressed in writing or art.
So, what is the meaning of life? Well, to get an accurate statement, let’s go back to the dictionary: Merriam-Webster tells us that life is the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body. A principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings or an organism characterized by the capacity for metabolism, growth, reproduction, function, and reaction to stimuli.
Okay, fine, that tells us the meaning of the word life; however, it still doesn’t help us understand the meaning of life in any meaningful way.
Maybe understanding expressions in writing or art attempting to define the meaning of life will help get us closer to the answer? Yeah, no, it won’t.
Finding the meaning of life in the writings or art of any human is impossible because human beings can only define what life means to them. No matter how worthy a philosopher they may be, individuals can only offer their truth based on their perspective—not facts. If a human being had all the answers and made sense, then there wouldn’t be endless wars over very little. Instead, we’d all live in a yellow submarine, and everyone would be happy.
However, the trouble is we know that is bollocks, and it’s never going to happen.
For life to have a universal meaning, there must be a universal plan
If there were a plan that gave meaning to life, then who made it? God? Which one/s? Human beings have created more than two thousand over the years.
Is it the Catholic god worshiped by a billion folks worldwide? A billion people can’t be wrong, right? Or is it the pantheon of gods worshiped by a billion Hindus in India alone? So, one of those billions must be incorrect, yes?
Or, more likely, they both are, as is everyone else who looks to an invisible friend for meaning—especially as the universe presents precisely like it has expanded and evolved over billions of years without any help at all.
There was no plan. Or, if there were one, it must have been of the whimsical, “let’s see what happens” sort. It is the kind of experiment that a bored child may do. That or an indifferent creator who lit a spark stood back and took no notice of the pain and suffering it caused.
Any creator or god-like creature would be extraordinarily bad at their job at best, or monstrous and cold at worst, to mess everything up so badly.
However, doesn’t it seem unlikely that a being of such power would be so woefully incompetent with its designs? For example, if there were an intelligent designer, why would it make about 70% of human embryos unviable and naturally abort them within a few weeks of conception? Why would any babies be born with horrific, crippling diseases and abnormalities? Why allow famine and pestilence and war?
Moves in mysterious ways? My ass—any being who would create such a situation isn’t mysterious. They’re just an asshole.
So, does that leave us with a monstrously nonplussed god with regards to its creation? Has humanity been abandoned much like that failed and falling down construction project along the United States’ southern border? Or, can we accept the infinitely more likely, adult, and sane conclusion, i.e., that god is a fictional character—like the Batman, but without the sweet car and cool outfit?
To avoid sounding religiously indoctrinated, some say we live in a virtual simulation, and they could be right. Perhaps we are in a simulation, a digital world deeper than our understanding or comprehension?
However, doesn’t that make the unknown programmer just another way to smuggle god into the discussion? What else would this all-powerful coder of our Matrix-esque world be but a god to our, on a galactic scale, grains of sand for brains?
The point is either way; we are an experiment. We don’t have a destiny. There is no fate and no reason to be. We are just following urges to procreate and horde our wealth for the winter like the other animals. It’s genuinely all a bit sad unless we decide to figure out a greater purpose to keep from murdering ourselves.
It seems purpose, or meaning, is a problem for human beings because, well, it seems pretty clear that there isn’t one. By that, I mean, if we accept there is no god and therefore no divine plan, we are all on our own to figure it out.
However, as there is no absolute purpose to cling to, we can emotionally devolve into finding no meaning but the urge to eat and procreate. Or, we can discover our personal meaning and find a purpose in the people and activities we enjoy and the service we can offer to our fellow humans.
In Dead Poets Society (1989), the preternaturally gifted Robin Williams played English teacher Mr. Keating, in arguably his finest roles. Keating nurtures a class of posh boys at an expensive school from another time. And much to the chagrin of the school establishment, Keating encouraged the boys to “look at things in a different way,” to “make their lives extraordinary,” and famously to “seize the day.”
Medicine, Business, Law, Engineering… These are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love… These are what we stay alive for.
He’s not wrong. Although, I would personally add to that list; travel, art, music, preparing and eating delicious food, communing with nature on my walks in the mountains, writing, and challenging my mind daily.
I don’t live only for the moment with no thought of tomorrow; that is just plain dumb. But I try to waste as little time as possible doing business-related stuff that I get no pleasure from because that is even dumber.
You may not relate, but…
Everyone, be they 18 or 81, needs to stop. Everyone needs to stop being in servitude to others. Stop taking orders. Stop wasting the only life you are ever going to have. And realize that in universal terms, you are going to die moments from now. The days, weeks, months, and years accelerate as one ages.
So, get started today. This moment, right now, ask yourself what you want?
What you really, really want?
Create your meaning; give yourself a purpose.
Nobody owes you anything, and you owe nothing to them. So, please, give yourself the gift of living in the here and now, as it absolutely will not last. Molloy