This year, I am most grateful for feeling at ease with myself.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Gratitude pendant.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Presence
Here is a gift. I discovered it in Martha Beck's book, Finding your Way in a Wild New World, which I love.
Hand-Sensing Exercise by Eckart Tolle, from his book A New Earth.
Close your eyes and hold out your hand.
Allow yourself to feel your hand.
Ask yourself how – without touching anything, without moving your hand and without looking at your hand – you can know that your hand is still there.
Your mind might say it knows it's there, because it was just there a minute ago.
But there is another way of knowing. You can feel the inside of your hand, a subtle sense of warmth or tingling.
This is the subtle sense of aliveness.
If your mind wanders, just return your attention to feel the sensations in your hand.
This hand sensing exercise brings your awareness to the present moment. Do this exercise whenever you can to get in touch with your inner sense of aliveness.
This inner sense of aliveness is your own conscious presence, your being-ness, the you that you really are, beneath your thinking and beyond your story.
The quality of my life has improved greatly since I began this practice a few months ago. I hope you can try it!
Presence pendant.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Awakened
The past few years were hard for me. Like a game of Tetris, the foundation of my identity came tumbling down when my dad became ill and we thought we’d lose him. I had little contact with the outside world, and spent lots of time alone. I needed to process grief, uncertainty, and unhealthy beliefs and behaviors from my past.
Grief became depression. I was unable to form a sense of who I was and of how I understood the world. I had turned to a scientific and logical view for answers, but it felt arid and soulless. Depression turned into hopelessness. In my lack of connection to myself and others I lost all footing, and soon it became hard to face each day. I sought help in therapy, but it took me deeper into the unresolved pain of my childhood.
I separated from my partner, and spent the next few months alone trying to reconnect with myself. I found new forms of therapy that strengthened my body awareness rather than my thoughts. I reunited with friends and family and shared a more vulnerable side of myself. Little by little I regained joy. I cut off my hair and gave away many of my belongings. I stopped trying to understand everything and instead let my senses lead the way.
The day the earth shook I felt that my journey into the depths of my psyche was ending. I had faced it bravely and my wound had healed. When the earth shook I ran out of my apartment. The lobby floor undulated and I fell across the hallway on my knees. For the first time in years I knew I had to get out. Life was waiting.
Awakened ring.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
North Star
“No one but you has the ability to find your own North Star and no one but you has the power to keep you from finding it. ”
North Star ring.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
*Urban Dictionary definition:
North Star: something that is constant and dependable in an ever changing world.
Hummingbird
“Stillness
not on the branch
in the air
Not in the air
in the moment
hummingbird ”
Hummingbird ring.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Undercurrent
Explore the depths of your soul.
Undercurrent ring.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Sunny
As happy as a bug in the sun.
Supercharged ring.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Wake up Call
That wake up call you have been hearing? Trust that it will lead you towards greater joy.
Awaken ring.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Amulet 4 and 5
“If we’re willing to simply be curious, our true nature starts to reveal itself. ”
Amulet 4 and 5.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Amulet 2 and 3
The beast within is also your teacher.
Amulet 2 and 3.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Amulet 1
Animals and symbols often show up in my dreams. I always ask what they mean to me, because through them, I can get to know deeper parts of my mind. Sometimes they represent fears, but other times, strengths I didn't know I had.
Amulet 1.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Liberated
I love the freedom of short hair and long, lightweight earrings.
Liberated earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
This Monday in my online shop.
Interconnected
What happens to one of us, happens to all of us.
Interconnected earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Duality
I am the sun and the moon.
Duality earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Fire Earrings
For this series, I used wire to draw. I wanted lines to evoke energy rather than form.
Fire earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Eclipse
“Nations, like stars, are entitled to eclipse. All is well, provided the light returns and the eclipse does not become endless night. Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul.”
Eclipse earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Layers
You are light and you are shadow.
Layered earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Shell
When life strips away everything you are not, you are left with who you really are.
Shell earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Intertwined
And when you thought your life was finally yours, you realize it is inseparable from those around you.
Intertwined earrings.
Handmade with recycled sterling silver.
Soon in my online shop.
Pale Blue Flame
Self mastery. That is what it's all about.
Pale Blue Flame ring.
Handmade with chalcedony and recycled sterling silver.
Next Monday in my online shop.
One of a kind silk and wool top by my talented mom.