♡ "Honor your heart— not just in its strength, but in its aching; not just when it is healing but when it is breaking from a pain that is Instigated by Heartbreak." ♡
THE AUTHOR
Afia is a writer and creative living in New York City. Her work is shaped by introspection, resilience, and the quiet moments that reveal who we are. These particular pages were instigated by heartbreak, marking her debut into published writing.
Instigated By Heartbreak is a raw and resonant collection of poetry & prose for anyone who has ever had to pick up the pieces after love falls apart. Inspired by kintsugi—the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold—the poetry explores the hidden pain often carried in silence and the strength it takes to feel deeply, fall apart, process, and rebuild. Through the phases of grief: shock, anger, bargaining, sadness, acceptance, this collection invites readers to embrace vulnerability and while finding beauty in the breaking
WHAT IS KINTSUGI?
What Is Kintsugi?
Kintsugi is a centuries-old Japanese art form that repairs broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. Rather than hiding the cracks, kintsugi highlights them, transforming a once-shattered object into something more beautiful for having been broken. The practice reflects a deeply held belief: that breakage is not the end of a story, but the beginning of a more intentional one.
Origins
Kintsugi is believed to have emerged in Japan in the late fifteenth century, a period often linked to the story of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Folklore tells of a treasured tea bowl he sent out for repair, only for it to be returned crudely stapled with metal. The imperfection was so jarring that artisans sought a more thoughtful approach to restoration. Their answer was to mend the fractures with lacquer dusted in gold, transforming the breakage into a visible part of the object’s history rather than something to disguise.
Guided by wabi-sabi, a philosophy that honors impermanence, imperfection, and the quiet beauty of things that have endured, kintsugi came to represent resilience and intentional transformation. A once-broken piece became more meaningful because of its cracks, not in spite of them.
Why Kintsugi Through Poetry
Instigated by Heartbreak uses kintsugi as a guiding metaphor for the inner work of healing. In the book, a young woman moves through cycles of grief, disorientation, and renewal, each phase shaping her in ways that feel both painful and necessary. Her emotions, like pottery, fracture under the weight of loss. What follows is the slow and deliberate act of gathering those pieces and placing them back together with intention.
Some Fun Details
Each repaired piece of kintsugi pottery is one-of-one: no two cracks follow the same path.
The restored object is often more valuable than it was before it broke.
In traditional practice, kintsugi artists sometimes spend weeks or months rebuilding a single piece by hand.
The philosophy extends beyond objects, kintsugi is often used to describe emotional, spiritual, and relational healing.
For The Soft Hearts Who Love Wholly:
Kintsugi resonates because it offers a gentler way to understand pain as evidence of endurance. It honors the truth that healing does not erase the past; it reframes it into something that can be carried with dignity.