Kintsukuroi

Life is fragile, subject to constant changes. Entropy is the law of nature, Everything eventually breaks down. Sudden upheavals happen with such regularity that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Yet people are averse to fragility. We go to great lengths to avoid a broken heart or to mend one. Parents would shield their children from anything that they feel would break them. And in the process make them weak and even more fragile. But the fact remains, everything breaks down in time. Entropy.

Filipinos are being extolled now for their resilience in the face of the extreme calamity wrought by typhoon Yolanda. Taleb has coined a new word and concept that goes beyond resilience – Antifragility. Resilience is the ability to withstand damage from shocks, changes and disasters and to be able to return to one’s original condition, none the worse (nor better) for it. Antifragility is the ability withstand damage from shocks, changes and disasters and come out better from the experience. Living in a land constantly rocked by earthquakes, the Japanese have developed engineering techniques that have made most, if not all, of their tall buildings impervious to earthquake damage. Given that most of their land is not arable, Israelis have developed farming techniques that made the desert bloom. Living in a country that lies at the main highway for typhoons, Filipinos have nursed a  can-do and make-do spirit that has made them the most sought after technical workers in the world because they can deliver even with limited resources. In the face of seemingly endless disasters, we have developed a caring spirit that have made them the most sought after caregivers in the field of health and medicine for they truly understand what pain and suffering are. In the face of catastrophic upheavals, we have grown a spirit with an undying love of life that is makes us sing and our songs have touched the lives of people in many places for the melody and the tunes uplift even the most broken among us. In the face of all the storms, we have evoked within us a spirit full to trust and faith that have made us a truly spiritual nation.

In Japan, they have the beautiful tradition of Kintsukuroi. It means ‘to repair with gold’, and is the art of repairing pottery with gold and understanding that the piece is the more beautiful for having been broken. As a people, we Filipinos may have had more than our fair share of natural calamities. We have been broken to pieces, time and time again. But these are the pieces we gather together to re-imagine and re-create ourselves as a nation united in our prayers and our songs, in our caring and sharing with one another and the rest of the world, in helping bring to birth the kingdom of God.