The Leaning Tower of Pisa was created by accident. A mistake made during its construction in 1173 caused the tower to tilt. In fact, the defective structural design had to be stabilized from a 5.5-degree tilt to a 3.97-degree tilt in 1993 for safety reasons. Yet this unintentional defect has become one of its most celebrated features, drawing visitors from around the world. The defect created the beauty.
When musicians play improvised jazz, by definition, they do not follow the notes on the score. We delight in the new melodies formed by the deviation from the planned composition.
Imagine a shattered teacup, not discarded, but painstakingly pieced back together, the cracks filled with shimmering gold. This is kintsugi, a practice in Japanese pottery that sees beauty in imperfections. Instead of hiding the flaws, they are accentuated, creating a unique and beautiful piece of art.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, improvised jazz, and the Japanese art of kintsugi highlight how there is beauty in the unexpected, the irregular, the interruption of the pattern. You are no different. Your specific challenges are a high-definition image of your authenticity. No one else has experienced your difficulties with the level of detail and clarity that you have. Your challenges contain seeds of brilliance that you can use to create distinctive work.
The challenging experiences that leave you feeling shattered are not meant to be hidden. Just as the kintsugi artisan carefully restores each crack, you too can pick up the fragments of your past and begin the process of golden repair.
This article is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of Choose Your Work
Footnotes
In fact, the defective structural design had to be stabilized from a 5.5-degree tilt to a 3.97-degree tilt in the 1990s for safety reasons: “Leaning Tower of Pisa,” Wikipedia, last modified May 31, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa.
Dan Dobos writes about decision making, personal growth, human potential, fulfillment and helping people choose the work that they are meant to do. He is the author of Choose Your Work.