Embracing Our Cracks: The Beauty of Being Human.

Imperfect can be just what we need.

In the quiet corners of our daily lives, where the noise of the world fades away and we are left with our thoughts, there’s a truth we often shy away from: We are all cracked vessels. We are flawed, imperfect, fragile. In a world that prizes perfection—beauty, success, power—we feel an overwhelming pressure to present ourselves as whole, flawless, unbreakable. But, what if the cracks are where the light gets in? What if our imperfections are the very things that make us human, that connect us to each other, to history, and to the deeper meaning of existence?

We all have scars. We have brokenness, flaws, struggles. It’s part of the human condition. But how often do we speak about this? How often do we acknowledge our shared humanity in all its raw, vulnerable, unpolished beauty?

When we think about greatness—about the legends, the icons, the great minds of history—we often focus on their accomplishments, their triumphs. We look at their work and marvel at what they’ve achieved, at the legacies they’ve left behind. But what about their struggles? Their flaws? Their cracks?

Think about someone like Martin Luther King Jr. He is a towering figure in the history of human rights, a beacon of justice, peace, and love. But how often do we pause to consider the depth of his personal pain? The emotional and physical toll of the movement he led, the anguish of seeing his own people suffer, and, most poignantly, the weight of being hunted and vilified by a nation that would rather see him silent? King, like all of us, was cracked. Yet, in his vulnerability, he found strength.

Or consider Vincent van Gogh. The tortured genius whose paintings now hang in galleries worldwide, adored by millions. Van Gogh’s works are drenched in colour and emotion, a testament to his inner world. But how many of us reflect on his years of loneliness, his mental struggles, his self-doubt? Van Gogh’s life was a canvas in itself—fractured, aching, beautiful in its brokenness. And yet, through those cracks, his art shines in a way that no polished, perfect surface could.

And what of someone like Socrates, whose philosophy has shaped the course of Western thought? How many times do we overlook the fact that he was seen as a subversive, a troublemaker, and a “cracked vessel” in his own time? His ideas challenged the very fabric of society, and yet, he was ridiculed, ostracized, and ultimately sentenced to death. In his final moments, he didn’t run from the truth of his own fragility. He faced it with grace, accepting his brokenness as part of the greater journey of knowledge.

There’s a certain kind of grace in being human—one that comes from acknowledging our flaws, our cracks, and the impermanence of it all. Too often, we spend our lives trying to patch up those cracks, to smooth over the jagged edges of who we are. We want to be whole, perfect, untouchable. But in doing so, we risk missing the very essence of what it means to live a truly human life.

Our flaws are not something to hide, to erase, to be ashamed of. No, they are part of our story, part of our soul. And when we embrace them, we begin to understand that every crack, every scar, every imperfection is not a sign of weakness but a mark of strength. These cracks are the very places where we learn, where we grow, where we heal. In fact, it is through our brokenness that we often find our greatest capacity for compassion, for empathy, for connection.

I think of the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with gold. The idea behind it is profound—rather than hiding the cracks, they are highlighted, celebrated even. The cracks become part of the beauty, the history, and the story of the piece. The brokenness is not something to be ashamed of, but something to be honoured. When we look at the great figures in history, we often forget that they, too, were human. They were vessels cracked open by the weight of the world, yet their cracks were what allowed their light to shine through.

Perhaps it is time for us to stop idolizing perfection and begin to honour our cracks, our flaws, and our humanity. Perhaps it’s time we allow ourselves to be seen not as flawless beings, but as beautiful, complex, and fragile vessels in a world that demands too much of us. Let’s be reminded that greatness doesn’t come from being unbreakable. It comes from being broken and still moving forward, still loving, still creating.

In the end, we are all imperfect, broken, cracked vessels. But it’s through these cracks that the light enters. So, let’s embrace our flaws, our humanity. Let’s let the light shine through the cracks we try so hard to hide. Because it’s in those moments, those fragile, imperfect moments, that we are most truly alive.

After all, history will remember us not for our perfection, but for how we lived, how we loved, and how we embraced our brokenness.

Eddy.