By Edward Charles in Journal — 24 Aug 2026

金継ぎ (The art of repairing)

Kintsugi is the Japanese process of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed or dusted with gold. The process is supposed to celebrate the objects history by making its imperfections part of its overall beauty. In people who have gone through struggles or trauma, we might translate "Kintsugi" to developing character or recognise a persons ability to heal their wounds and bounce back to having a "good" life despite their imperfections.

That process began for me in 2024 following the conclusion of a particularly nasty situation in which a former partner made claims of harassment against me, whilst completely omitting her own behaviour and messages. Documents later obtained suggest that her motive was to distract from ongoing child protection investigations into her two children, one of whom she shares with me. Unfortunately, the authorities neglected to follow up this line of inquiry and subsequently cost me relationships with family, friends and a job too. In effect, the allegations and process shattered my life and relationships in much the same way pottery might shatter into many pieces once dropped.

There is a debate to be had about the authorities lack of due diligence and the reasons why they didn't follow up lines of inquiry, and I am also working on a post about the allegations made as part of a wider conversation about the prevalence of false allegations and lack of critical thought behind believing all allegations, however, for this post, I would like to focus on sharing some photos of big and small things which are giving my life the "Kintsugi" treatment.

For the most part, the photos are of memories, times or things which have contributed to healing and feelings of gratitude, calmness and soothed the stress and anxiety which comes from the heightened senses when going through this kind of situation.