Cracked

Cracked. Cracking a smile. Cracking an egg. Cracking open a book. It signifies a breaking of something, doesn't it?

Breaking open. Breaking free. A change is happening.

Change isn't easy. It could be a change of scenery from moving. Or a change in a relationship. Seasons change. People change.

Growth of ourselves can only happen if the previous version has cracked opened. We can't force a new perspective within us without some other tidbit being let go. We can't force change onto others without first knowing where they are at, and communicating that the change is for their ultimate benefit.

Sometimes our ego influences us to not want to change. It's "easier" to stay in the status quo, even if it's hurting us or others. It argues it's "scary to change, why not stay in familiarity," even if it's keeping us from joy.

"In creative pursuits, the ego screams to not write, or paint, or dance or act - or to do that thing with perfection. That, of course is impossible, and so, often we are afraid to do it at all. Our creativity is a normal and natural part of us. We are meant to sing, dance, draw, doodle poems. Art lives in the heart, and we all have one. Creativity is even an act of survival. It organizes and gives voice to experience. Creativity makes life useful to us. It also makes us useful to life." - Julia Cameron "The Vein of Gold" pg. 147-148

I love the representation and meaning of the art of Kintsugi. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of creating something new from broken pieces of something old. Usually the art is used on bowls, cups, plates, vases, etc. where shattered pieces of a valuable item are put back together but using lacquer that is mixed with gold powder. The lacquer does not only make that cup usable again, but the gold accentuates the cracks and chips. It signifies that, even though its history has brokenness in it, brokenness is not something that needs to be hidden, or completely thrown away.

God asks us to be broken open so that He may fill us through His Holy Spirit. Jesus becomes the Kintsugi to our hearts and minds as we are cracked open and filled by Him. This cracking apart does not diminish our value, or devoid us of desires and skills but actually accentuates them. He aligns us to His will, where our uniqueness is of value to Him, and to others.

What experiences have cracked you open, and what has God shown you through that?