A Sparkling Secret

I’ve been making jewelry, or at least stringing beads, my whole life. My earliest memory of “making jewelry” consisted of me sitting for hours on my grandparent’s living room carpet, stringing oversized wooden beads onto a shoe lace. I would make a strand, show my grandma, wait for her pleased reaction, and then take them off and start again. I just sat there, with the warm sun bathing me through the window, making countless patterns of cubes, spheres, reds and blues. As I got older, I would follow my sister through the craft store as she searched for yarn. When she was thoroughly ensconced in picking out the right colors for her next blanket, I would sneak to the jewelry section. I would marvel at the endless variety, mentally pairing beads and imagining necklaces, bracelets and earrings. With the beautiful beads and charms in front of me, I would stand there until my sister would come find me (eventually, she figured out where I would disappear). I began to use the internet to find new ideas, such as different ways to work metal or patterns for mixed media jewelry. I then sat on the floor of my room trying to replicate and modify my new found techniques. When summertime came, I would go with my mom to various craft fairs. We would spend hours strolling down streets lined with various stands. The colors and shapes of the artists’ passions were on display, carefully protected and separated by white, covered tents. I always noticed the jewelry first. I loved the beautiful twists of wire, the shimmer of glass beads, and the sparkle of gold and silver.  The intricacies of the artists’ works inspired me to fine-tune my skills and continue to create. Through the years, jewelry became a small passion of mine. I was known as the tall nerd who played sports and was in the band, but making jewelry was a way to quietly express my artistic side. It was my little, sparkling secret.

This is one of my favorite pairs of earrings. I love the combination of blues and greens with the silver, flower bead.

I brought this pair of earrings with me when I took my senior pictures. It's hard to see, but I am wearing them in this pic. (A little hint to my sparkling secret)

As I said before, much of my inspiration comes from the internet. I found the idea for these while browsing jewelry-making sites, and I decided I had to replicate it.

These earrings remind me of summer. I love the bright colors that make a whimsical look.

These are an example of a mixed media earring. I used beads, chain and buttons to make them.

Bright Colors and Shiny Objects

I have a (male) friend who was proud to announce that he had figured girls out and had constructed his own “Girl Theory.” He told me that girls were easy to understand as long as you realized that they were attracted to bright colors, shiny objects and miniature things. Of course, he meant to say that girls were simple and easily distracted by the aforementioned items, often seen in the forms of jewelry, clothing, and small animals.  I will admit that I am attracted to bright colors and shiny objects, but I am absolutely certain that is not the essence of what makes me a girl. My egotistic and disillusioned friend missed quite a bit in his theory. Here are some of my personal additions to the “Girl Theory” or what makes a girl:

1.       Girls are expressive. Whether they express themselves through speaking their emotions or painting a picture (maybe even with bright colors), they like to put themselves out there and show the world who they really are.

2.       Girls like to talk. Even if they are shy, every girl enjoys good, open conversation. Stemming from our need for expression, there is a need for companionship, someone to express to. We enjoy talking to one another because we have a genuine interest in other people (historically and evolutionarily, women are nurturers) and enjoy learning about how people operate. Sometimes, our need to understand people and converse about this understanding can result in judgment and gossip, but, for the most part, our talking results in a greater comprehension of the people and environment around us.

3.       Girls see the world in “bright and shiny” colors. I’ll admit, we like a little color in our lives. Even someone as wary of change as I am can admit that girls love the excitement of new and interesting things. We see the intensity of the array of colors and diversity in the world. Our brains are constantly filled with new ideas and perspectives.

4.       Girls are lovers, and have a need for resolution. I have found that guys enjoy leaving things the way they are (the old stereotype that men won’t ask for directions may stem from the fact that they just don’t want to stray from their own, settled path). Women, on the other hand, want the perfect ending (just consider how perfectly chick flicks tend to resolve and how broken hearted we are when they don’t). We don’t like harboring our negative feelings and we have a need to get it all out and resolve problems, even if the resolution is akin to a tornado-stricken town. We are naturally lovers and want to please others (just picture the perfect 1950’s mother serving her family. It’s not all a façade), but we realize that not everything can be perfect. Due to this, we try to finish things the best way we can, though it’s not always perfect.

These are just some thoughts and observations I have had, but, basically, the most important thing is that girls are far from simple. In fact, our love of bright and shiny, new things make us curious, open and understanding. Don’t get me wrong. I realize not all women follow this criterion (no set of criteria is comprehensive), but I do feel that these are pretty consistent patterns.

So, to my narrow-minded friend, you’re right. I LOVE bright colors, shiny objects and miniature things, but there is SO much more to me!

Here is one form of expression for me. I love making jewelry (yes, with bright colors and shiny objects). Making jewelry is away for me to show my true colors.

Reminders

The human brain can only take so much pressure. Memorize this! Recall this! Remember that! Though the highly developed bundle of nerves is capable of more than we will ever understand, even the brain can use some help sometimes. So, we turn to reminders. Everyone has their reminders. My reminders crowd my desk and bulletin board in the form of lists and post-it notes. Other people rely on their phones to tell them when and where they need to be and what they need to remember. Whatever form they take, reminders are our way of giving our brains a helping hand so they can maintain maximum efficiency and NEVER slow down. But, that’s the problem.

If we rely on so many reminders all the time, maybe we should remind ourselves that our brains need a break too. The constant influx of information that results from classes, technology, talking with our friends, and just thinking about what we need to do next keeps us so plugged in to the world that we tend to forget about ourselves.

This past week, while studying for my Physics exam, I found myself getting buried in papers as the time progressed. My desk was covered with to-do lists, problems I still had to work out, and notes I still needed to review. The whole mess was just a reminder that my exam was rapidly approaching, and I had to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible. As I spent hours surrounded by the never ending list of equations and problems, I began to feel run down. My head ached and my throat was parched. I had forgotten to remind myself of something very essential to my success… myself.

I realized that the only reminder I really needed was that one that would tell me to stop, breath, unplug myself from the world, and truly release. My brain just needed a break. It didn’t need to be told what else it had to do or remember, it needed to be told not to do anything at all.

So, after that long winded realization, I have resolved to always have a new kind of reminder. I need a one-word mantra to tell myself to release. There is so much jumbled information inside my head that I have lost all sense of calm. Due to this, my current mantra is calm. When I think calm, I will stop whatever I am doing and take care of the most precious resources for success that I have, my mind and my body.

These bracelets are some one-word reminders that I intend to give to some of my friends. It's similar to the old "tie a string around your finger for the things you need to remember" trick except much simpler and, hopefully, a little more stylish.