bettybruises

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. ~Barbara Bloom

At almost 34 years of age I have come to realize, we are all damaged, we are all broken in one way or another, and like the quote listed above, it IS our damage that makes us unique and beautiful. I remember being a kid and just wanting to fit in, it wasn't until I accepted that I would never completely fit in and didn't want to change myself to try, that I began to feel genuinely happy. I get depressed at times, I am often let down by others, but I am getting better at realizing that my wounds and my bruises are my own.



This is a photo of the late great John Lee Hooker's hand. It is one of my favorite photographs. Old calloused, wrinkled hands. Hands that gently strummed a guitar, hands that beat a guitar, hands that loved, hands that fought, hands that drank, hands that sobered up, hands that worked, hands that played, hands that lived....

I want those hands when I am in my 70s.

I want to be able to say I lived, and I lived as much as I possibly could.

That is beauty.

To me.