GTFU Podcast Ep 4 Kintsugi

In this week's episode of the GTFU Podcast, I speak about Kintsugi. A 15th century Japanese technique consisting of repairing of a broken piece of pottery with gold and accentuating it's cracks that make it more beautiful and unique. A Philosophy we can use in our lives. I reference the book Kintsugi-Finding Strength in Imperfection by Celine Santini.  Send questions or comments to Gtfuservices@gmail.com 

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And hello, welcome back to GTFU podcast number four. Made it to four. Thank you so much, everybody, for joining me. And um it's been a great time so far. But it's just me and this camera here. But some of the feedback I received is encouraging and I welcome more. Uh email me at gtfuservices at gmail.com with any questions, concerns, or anything. You can reach out. I want to start off today by saying thank you to Primetime Boxing. Last episode, we went over to Primetime Boxing and we spoke to the owner, Pop. Some call him Pop Pop. I call him Pop. He is a young man, very young man, who's up opened his gym, boxing gym, here in Las Vegas. And it was a really great interview. You know, he what he's doing is purposeful to him. It's his dream to open, and he's doing really well. And I'm so proud of him. Check out the um check out last week's podcast and uh and get to know him. The best thing is the empowerment you receive when you go train. You get in there, and one of the things we did talk about was, yeah, you can go in there angry, you can go in there depressed, you can go in there however feeling however bad you're feeling. But after a workout, hitting the bags, getting the mit work, getting the one-on-one coaching, the surroundings, feeding off everybody in their working, you're gonna leave encouraged and humbled. There's been times when I've gone into the gym angry and I come out humbled. So I encourage you to check out the episode and continue to invest in yourself. So today's podcast, what I want to talk about, is a book that I happened upon a couple years ago. Um, it is it's called Kinsugi by Celine Santini. And uh, I hope I'm saying that right. I don't know this woman, I don't know anything much about her other than what she puts in the book. Uh but it's called Kinsugi, Finding Strength in Imperfection. So when I looked up what Ink what Kinsugi was, it's uh it's a it's a Japanese philosophy from the 15th century. And it's kinsugi is comprised of two words, kin, which means gold, and sugi, which means joint. Now, here in Vegas, a golden joint may mean something else, but for this message, for this podcast, it means the joining of a broken piece. So basically, what Kinsugi is it is repairing a broken pot or bowl, a vase, repairing it and highlighting its cracks with gold. And what it does, it symbolizes resilience and making this broken piece whole again. So, with that said, accentuating the cracks is the key to Kinsugi. I just thought it was pretty cool. Um, I I'm still learning about it, but I did want to come on and share what Kinsugi means to me. It's a um, again, it's it's so impressive. I'm still by the book, yeah. By the book, again, I'm still reading it. A lot of it is um what she goes through and talks about the details of how the Kinsugi art is uh the steps of it, you know, the how it's broken, how it's repaired, and there's just so much more to it. So one thing I did find out was that being broken is not final. It's not final because we have the opportunity and the choice to be prepared. Uh, I'm sorry, repaired. But it takes preparation, it takes the will to get up and repair. So with the Kinsugi philosophy, the way we can apply that to ourselves is as well, I'll I'll use me as an example. I've had many losses, family, friends, um, you know, heartbreak, a lot of heartbreak. And to me, heartbreak was the ultimate pain for me. You know, the losses of some of the family and friends that I'll never speak to again, I'll never see again. The you know, rejection as well. There's also rejection, you know. I've been divorced. The rejection with divorce is somebody telling you that you're not important anymore. No matter what you do, how you try, think you're doing all the right things, and all they do is you, you, you. You should have done this, you could have done this. I'm tired of you, tired of you. You know, there's it, it's uh it can be debilitating, it's numbing. So rejection, loss, grief, you know, even uh promotion. A promotion, being rejected in a promotion, you same thing. You could have done this, you could have done that, you should have said this, you should have. Wow, so much sometimes, some sometimes it takes it's uh it's heavy, I guess that's what I'm trying to say. So I'm kind of messing up here a little bit because I'm trying to be open and honest, and I don't want to be editing anything. I want you to know that this is real. I'm not trying to polish anything up. I've tried that before, and I don't know, some maybe the message is being lost, but I'm gonna try this. Again, this is new to me. I'm sitting here talking to a camera with no response. And uh, but to tell you the truth, on the other side of the camera is a picture of Donald Duck, and he's just smiling and waving at me. So, yeah, I'll be referring to my notes here just to keep me on track because I have this thing about you know, I get distracted easily. So, but I'm cool with Donald. So, again, being broken is not final. We've gone through it, we've all can relate to each other with that, and um the fact that we're still here shows that we are resilient. Um, there's a uh in in the book, um, I read I read half of it, but it again, it's it's so inspiring. There's a uh a Persian legend of a king, and he tasked his his he's looking at his court, and he tasked one of the old men in his court to inscribe in this golden ring that he gives him something that is eternal truth, something that inscribe something that can relate to all ages, anybody and everybody, something that is everlasting. And uh the old man came back, returned the ring, and inside the ring was an engraving that said, This too shall pass. And I thought, man, again, how how inspiring. We're still here, right? We're still here making things happen, making things happen, still living our lives with these cracks. So having these cracks does not make us broken. We're still here, we're doing our best, people are still looking up to us. And I want to encourage you to keep that in your mind, keep that in in check that yeah, you're still here, you're doing okay, you're just stronger. That's the best thing. So some of these repairs are gonna take time, some take months, some take years. But it it the reason is because it it to heal, you don't just heal overnight. We are going through some of the hardest things sometimes, some of the most heartbreaking times, you know. And I just had all these thoughts about these things, but uh we go through these things, and it's gonna take time to get over. Now, how do we heal these things? How do we get through them? We I'll tell you how I did it. You know, with so many friends and and loved ones who passed, um, there's one thing that will never go away, even though I can't see them anymore, can't speak to them, make a phone call. The one thing that will never change was the love that we shared. And having that love, the reason it hurts is because I did love them. And I'm grateful for that love. In a in a strange way, I'm grateful for that pain as well. But these things happened, and you have to accept them. Accepting these things that happen is key into healing, into repairing these cracks in our hearts. Well, another another interesting thing about Kinsugi is you can use another piece, have another piece that fits to complete this bowl or this pot. And uh that also strikes me interesting. The people you meet, these are all people that are going to help you or teach you. A good example is yesterday. Yesterday, um, again, as no secret, I'm here in Las Vegas. I went to the Valley of Fire, and I tell you what, yeah, it was hot. And I was like, yeah, that's uh I wouldn't know why they call it the Valley of Fire, probably 105 degrees. Um, but it was so amazing to see the evolution of this area. And uh driving around and having lunch and pack the lunch. And um with my fiance at the time, we're driving around and seeing all the the writings on the walls. It was really cool. The visitor center is amazing. So I'm saying all of that to say that I drove over in to the valley and I got out and I went for a walk. And I'm by myself, you know. My fiance stayed in the in the vehicle for a little bit. It was it was a little too hot. But the excitement overcame me. I said, I gotta go check this out. So there's a pathway, I think it's called Mousey's Trail or something, and I wanted to go see the writings on the rocks. Well, I'm going, going, going, and about, I don't know, a third of a mile in, there's a guy standing there in the shade underneath a rock. And he says, Hey man, what's he? How's it going? And we just kind of started going back and forth, and and we just started talking. He's from Canada, and um he was asking me some questions and about where I'm from and what I do, and and I told him, and it just snowballed into GTFU. I told him about the GTFU right over here book, told him the story and how life has just been amazing and a blessing, and everybody we meet is a blessing. These are the pieces that I'm talking about. Because the conversation we had ended up being very inspiring for both of us, and it was it was touching, it was touching to me, and I'm walking around in the middle of this desert. We meet a guy and I get inspired. We shake hands and we parted ways. But here I am talking about it 24 hours later. It was very inspiring. So these are the pieces that I'm talking about. You have to be open to sharing sometimes, and I'm not saying go on social media and complain and worry about everybody's problems and putting everything out there because whatever we've gone through and whatever we're going through is gonna make us who we're meant to be. We are meant to be somebody else. That's why we're here, that's why we're progressing, that's why we're healing, that's why we're meeting people, that's why we're encouraging people, and they're encouraging us. Heal these cracks with cold, accept these cracks, these are unique to you. You are unique because of these cracks. It is an amazing life, you know. I say that so many times in conversations because it centers me. It is an amazing life. We are potters of our own lives, we are potters of our destiny. I believe we all have purpose, and these cracks within us, our broken hearts, or whatever is going we're going through, we're gonna be stronger at the end. Again, let me remind you: you are here, you're still here. No matter what you've been through, when you thought you weren't gonna get through it, you made it, and here you are listening to me. Now, I don't know who this is gonna reach or how many people this will reach, and I even sometimes I think I'm even making any sense. I'm sitting here talking to a camera with Donald Duck over there waving at me. But the reason I'm here is because this is my purpose. I didn't go through all of that. I didn't go through all of that to be a nobody. I was given the opportunity to heal myself. I was given the paths to take, and every path led to another peace that is gonna make me whole. So, my purpose here on this earth is to tell you that it's gonna be okay. This too shall pass. This too shall pass. I guarantee it. Don't quit, don't give up, go for a walk, go to the gym, go talk to somebody. You know, the Kinsugi philosophy. When I read that, I again I was so inspired because it is such an awesome way to look at who it was an opportunity to learn a different way to heal and be who we are supposed to be. We're not done. I'm not done yet. I don't know what's gonna happen. You don't know what's gonna happen, but the reason we're here is for purpose, you have your purpose. So, heal up, be the potter of your life. Take your time, but every crack that you mend within your broken heart is gonna make you stronger. Again, you are meant to be bigger and greater. I promise you that. I promise you that, and I speak from personal experience, but with that said, I don't, you know, I again it's an amazing life. I wake up most mornings because I still struggle sometimes, but most mornings I wake up and I make sure I tell myself one thing. Today is going to be your best day. Say that every morning to you, to yourself. Today is gonna be your best day, and you're gonna find out that it is, and it was, and tomorrow will be your best day as well. So uh, with all that said, I don't want to keep you too long. Um, again, if you want to reach out to me, comments, questions, um, whatever, I could take it. Uh, reach out to me at gtfuservices at gmail.com. And uh feel free. Uh I think that's all I got for today. I'm gonna go ahead and go to the gym and um empower myself. I'm gonna I'm not gonna ask you to do something I won't do myself. I already walked the dog. So again, take care, guys, and uh be empowered. You know, I encourage you to look up Kinsugi. Uh, there's videos all over YouTube, there's books, and uh find out how Kinsugi will help you. Alrighty, take care, guys. Have an amazing week, have an amazing day, and we'll talk to you later.