May 9, 2010

• bespoke

  One of the things I'm trying to do on my recently created daily blog is to remind myself as often as possible of the good things in life. It's something that is really hard to do when things are going poorly, and something that doesn't really occur to me when things are going well. One of my hopes in creating the blog was that by really sitting down and counting my blessings, even when they are small, I'll consciously enjoy them more.

  I have just found another way to do that, and I'm really excited about it.

  One of my colleagues makes jewelry as a hobby, and I think she's actually quite talented. A lot of her pieces are beautiful, and I was telling her one day that although I can't see myself wearing a lot of them, because they aren't my personal style, they are really great. She suggested that I think about getting a piece custom-made. I initially laughed at the idea (not at her, just at the idea), because where would I even begin?

  But then I thought about it over the next few days, and the idea intrigued me more and more, until I finally shot her an email, and over the course of a few emails and conversations, we figured out what it is that I wanted, and she came up with a design. I basically wanted a necklace that would remind me of some of the things that make me happy, and what I believe about happiness in general. My dog. Sun. Moon. Stars. Freedom. Scuba diving. Food, folks, and fun. The color red. Water. Blue skies. Luck. The feeling of being able to determine my own fate. Good things coming from tough circumstances.

  And she captured all of those in one necklace. For real. Actually, I asked her to put about six or seven of those ideas in, and she worked them in, but when I looked at the way she did it, I found so many more things hiding in there, as well.

  Check it out. We removed the citrine charm, because it made the charm cluster seem crowded. Although it looks like two necklaces, those pictures are actually of opposite sides of the necklace. The cuffs and key are actually the closing mechanism.

  

  

  The handcuffs and red key: freedom and the feeling of determining my own fate. The color red.
  The groups of five and three rings: bubbles (scuba diving), luck (eight is a lucky number), my dog (whose name comes from this character), food, folks, and fun (three things), and my general beliefs about happiness (it's made of three sub-components).
  The aquamarine stone: clear water, blue skies
  The pearl: moon, good things coming from tough circumstances, and another diving reference
  The star: stars (and sun, since the sun is just another star)

  That is almost everything that is good in life, captured in something I can wear around my neck. And it can be worn with either side in front: handcuffs and key, or charms and circles. I think she did a really great job, and I really love the idea of having something that is so personal and so full of meaning for me that I can wear whenever I want to wear a physical tally of the things I like in life.

  • 10:32 pm
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