Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hope you’re all having a good week. Some of you may already know this, but the very first ButterTree blanket was a healing blanket, inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi. Kintsugi is the art of mending broken pottery, of adorning the cracks with gold. It’s representative of the idea that our scars are beautiful.
This week’s story encapsulates what ButterTree has come to believe — that difficult experiences can strengthen us, help us connect to loved ones.
This is Dave’s story:
My wife and I thought having fish would be a good way to teach our kids responsibility. We used to have about fourteen. Every night—conveniently right around bedtime—the kids would suddenly get very interested in watching them.
One night in particular, my five-year-old son Oliver said, “Hey, Dad. . . I think there’s a fish missing.” He couldn’t explain why, he said he just had a feeling. So initially, I thought this was another tactic to avoid going to bed. But when I approached the tank to count the fish, I only counted thirteen. I was skeptical . . . thought I must have counted wrong. Where could a fish even go? So I counted them again. Still—only thirteen. My son’s intuition had been right; there definitely was a fish missing.
So I started moving things around the tank, and eventually found the fish in the filter. It was alive but injured. The fish could now be identified easily by a crescent moon scar.
I learned that fish don’t usually survive for more than a day in the filter. Had my son not had that intuitive nudge, the fish would have certainly died. And as time went on, we’d look for “Scar” in the tank. We noticed his distinct personality, that he was tough. He’d sometimes even “boss around” the other fish. It became very clear that Scar was a survivor in all aspects.
Over time, a lot of our fish started to die off—but not Scar. He’s still around today. In our family, he’s become a symbol of resilience and of the power of intuition.
What a beautiful story! Here’s a picture of Scar:
I love how small moments can illustrate such profound lessons about life. Do you have any stories about resilience? Let us know in the comments below!
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