Kintsugi is a centuries-old Japanese art of fixing cracked pottery. Rather than hide the cracks, the technique involves rejoining the broken pieces with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. When put back together, the whole piece of pottery looks beautiful as ever, even while owning its broken history. Many people are wondering at this time in history, when put back together, will we recover with dignity and grace? The science suggests that not only will we recover, but we will demonstrate the immense human capacity for resiliency and growth.

In fact, many who experience trauma not only show incredible resilience but actually thrive in the aftermath of the traumatic event. Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun coined the term “posttraumatic growth” to capture this phenomenon, defining it as the positive psychological change that is experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances.

Make no doubt: trauma shakes up our world and forces us to take an- other look at our cherished goals and dreams. As psychiatrist Viktor Frankl put it, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Times are difficult right now, and it may seem so far away before we can become whole again. Nevertheless, the latest research on postraumatic growth can offer you some hope that we will most likely come out stronger, more creative, and with a deeper sense of meaning that we ever had before.

Scientific American, March, 2020. Adaptado.

De acordo com o texto, na opinião de Viktor Frankl, acabamos mudando internamente: