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Sometimes I think I would like to wear more jewelry. I look at family and friends who have so many pieces of jewelry and it looks like fun! But then I think about the expense of buying all that jewelry. And then I'd have to figure out where to keep all of it. And so I say to myself, "Nah...."
As a young girl I loved looking in my Mom's jewelry box. My Dad brought it back for her on one of his trips to the Orient and she still has it. I thought it was the most beautiful jewelry box and I loved opening the drawers and looking at her pieces of jewelry and trying things on. It was fun!
Thinking back on my life I realize that there was a time when I did wear more jewelry, but once I became a Mom that kind of stopped. I learned (the hard way) that babies pull at necklaces and earrings that dangle. I stopped wearing my diamond engagement ring because the marquise cut would scratch my babies. Bracelets seemed to be the thing that I did keep wearing during my child-rearing years.
I have found that as I get older I tend to wear jewelry that has meaning to me. I also tend to choose something and then that's what I wear ALL THE TIME, until the next "thing" speaks to me and then I'll wear that ALL THE TIME. For example: Years ago Doug and the kids went to the India Festival and he bought me a necklace made from some kind of small seed. I decided to wrap it around my wrist and wear it as a bracelet – ALL THE TIME – and I gave it meaning. Each seed was to remind me of a blessing. This was during a particularly hard time and I liked being reminded of all the good in my life. I wore it until it eventually broke beyond repair. Then there was the black pearl necklace Doug bought me in Hawaii. I wore that everyday because I liked remembering our family trip to Hawaii and what a great time we had together. Prior to that black pearl necklace I always wore a very symbolic necklace. It was on a leather strand and had a silver charm of handcart pioneers and also a mustard seed in an acrylic casing. Those were very symbolic to me. They helped me remember to have faith, even a tiny bit counts; and to keep moving forward, just keep putting one foot in front of the other as my pioneer ancestors did. That necklace eventually wore out, too.
These days I pretty much always wear my One Little Word necklace (this year's word is MINDFUL). The chain, in addition to the word, has two small pearls on it because the necklace comes with a pearl. So I kept last year's pearl on this year's necklace to remind me of last year's word (CREATE).
On my left wrist I wear my watch and I wear a silver bracelet with an Irish design on it. I love that reminder of my Irish heritage, which I always felt I should have and only discovered 12 or so years ago that I do have (there is, of course, a story behind this!).
I do seem to have a lot of earrings, but as with everything else, I get into a mood and will wear the same earrings all the time – until I don't. I've always liked hoop earrings but I tend to wear smaller hoops the older I get.
I don't wear rings anymore, although I do have some pretty ones. My knuckles are getting arthritis, I think, and now it's hard to get rings over my knuckles! Tragically funny to me because I always thought that since I spent hours practicing and playing the piano growing up I would never get arthritis. Ha!
So, flashy jewelry? No. Meaningful jewelry? Yes. Boring? Probably. But I'm okay with that.
