Behind the Scenes… The Story Behind the Book Cover of Gold in the Cracks

For those who have been following my posts about my latest book, Gold in the Cracks, you may know by now that the concept is based on Kintsugi, a Japanese art of repairing broken pottery and filling the cracks with gold.

In the book I share how, in his quest, the Kintsugi master is not trying to hide the flaws but rather to enhance them by filling the cracks with gold, so that the finished piece is now even more precious than it ever was.

Before I sat down to write Gold in the Cracks, I saw this book cover in my mind’s eye.

My life could be compared to that of a beautiful jade bowl gifted me by a Japanese client in Osaka. The year was 1989 and I had just finished my St. Pucchi runway show. It was the end of a long, satisfying day and we were celebrating at a dinner given by this client of mine.

That gift remained in its original packaging for 29 years, when I finally stumbled upon it and unwrapped the beautiful furoshiki, a beautiful Japanese cloth that the gift was tied in.

From the moment I laid my eyes upon my jade bowl with its golden cracks, I saw that it represented the broken pieces of my life. The bowl was more beautiful because it had been broken.

Looking at the bowl and contemplating on the message that was enclosed – a note that read: “Dear Rani, May you become a Kintsugi master”, I realized then that I had a choice, either to stay stuck or bring all my pieces back together and fill the cracks with gold.

Someone recently mentioned that my book cover startled her and suggested I may want to rethink that cover – perhaps even change it to something more beautiful like a beautiful work of art. My question to this person would be, what is it that scares you?

To me this cover made the most sense. My cover shows that it was time to let go of all the finely tuned voices in my head, all past conditioning and limiting beliefs that I had acquired, that had accumulated through my years of growing up, and to learn to trust again in the process of living. It was time to break down my foundation, let my walls crumble, and expose myself completely. From that place I would find the true essence of what I needed to say.

So I made a decision. It was time to be real. It was time to heal.

As every artist knows, there will always be critics and naysayers, those that have an anti-figure slant on what they deem show-worthy. So many of these people feel like everything should represent comfort and beauty…

But the real world we live in is a world of contrasts. For something to be considered beautiful one must also see its not-so-beautiful side.

To me authentic writing, as with real art I have practiced thru my years of designing beautiful fashion, is about being a “visionary” rather than just showing ability, accuracy or general talent. It’s about having a voice in a world that is filled with pretense.

So, literally, I took a perfectly beautiful image – an image of a beautiful face, and took it apart. I created the cracks and dispersed them so they would pour out beams of light. Then I filled the cracks with gold.

Similarly at my most recent quest to study the art of golden repair with a Kintsugi master, I took a perfectly formed ceramic plate and just dropped it on the floor. I destroyed what someone had made. I was letting it all go. It was scary. It shattered into so many pieces. My first feeling was, “what have I done?!” Then, I trusted it would all come together like I envisioned.

I picked up all the pieces and laid them down so they floated apart from one another. Then I added lacquer and baked it for a few minutes, let it cool down then started the process of joining the pieces together… Days later I was able to scrape off all the remaining residue and adorn the seams with gold

So when the book cover finally came together after so many attempts that spanned numerous hours and occupied my every waking moment for days, I too was startled by its power. It turned out even better than I had imagined. And the best is that the cover image of Gold in the Cracks means so much to so many who see it. I receive heart-warming messages every single day! I feel like I really conveyed my message successfully.

From the moment we are born, the world tends to have a box already built for us to fit inside. Our umbilical cord never seems to be severed; we continue to seek new needs to fill.

As I was writing this book I thought deep and hard, and kept asking myself, what If we disconnected and severed our attachments, would we shatter our confinements and expand beyond our shell?

Would our world look different? Would we recognize ourselves? Would others around us “get it”?

Can this box that we have been contained in be authentically ‘un-contained’ and allow us to still be able to exist, to come alive, to thrive?

This is the irony of the world we live in, the box that others have created for us, wishing we would be forever “contained” in. As long as we don’t push on the walls of our surroundings, we may never know how strong we really are.

Gold in the Cracks is my gift to you. It is your invitation to move from shattered to whole and reveal your light; to go on a journey to find yourself again; to learn and re-learn; to live, to love and to laugh again.

I hope you will enjoy the journey as much as I did mapping it all out for you.

You can pick up your copy of Gold in the Cracks here now: https://amzn.to/2QuUvbg

Have fun with it. Meditate as you fill in the cracks on your journey thru your past, visiting your most amazing and cherished moments, facing the ones that were somewhat challenging, blessing everything and everyone along the way, meditating, visualizing, affirming…

It is my wish that may you too become a Kintsugi master…

Rani St. Pucchi is an award-winning Couture Fashion Designer, Style & Image Consultant, and a Relationship Expert. She is a Bestselling Author, an Inspirational Speaker, and a Success Coach and Trainer. Her TEDx talk: Is Your Body Image Holding You Back? has received worldwide acclaim. Rani’s#1 International Bestselling Books, Your Body, Your Style: Simple Tips on Dressing to Flatter Your Body Type ; The SoulMate Checklist: Keys to Finding Your Perfect Partner; Your Bridal Style: Everything You Need to Know to Design the Wedding of Your Dreams; and Gold in the Cracks: Move from Shattered to Whole and Reveal Your Light are available on Amazon and at Barnes & Nobles.

For more information on Rani please visit www.ranistpucchi.com