On Wearing Jewelry; Visit Update

Update first: we are having a great time here! It is a delight to have my wonder at this place renewed through my mom's marveling eyes. We have hiked beaches in rain and wind and fleeting sunshine, stopping to pick up rocks, exclaim over clam shells, slipping up on mats of kelp. Phil and mom took the truck while I stayed home and did some work. They returned with our season's second load of kelp to layer over our gardens as we start to put them to bed. We have experienced the adventure of The Washboard and taking showers there. We have picked low bush cranberries and have been enjoying them cooked down with a little sugar/erythritol and some freeze-dried raspberries added at the last minute to thicken things up and add some redlicious flavor.

I'm getting lots of feedback from two people who know me very well. Despite all the work I did on communication and boundaries over the summer, I'm astonished anew by my lack of self-awareness.

Jewelry-wearing
This is something I've been wanting to write about for ages--two months at least.
Before I left at the beginning of the summer, I shared this wooden diamond pendant Phil got me as a parting gift.

I adored it, I wore it every day at the Foie Gras Farm at least, I fingered it around my neck, I proudly explained its provenance to admirers; I couldn't believe something so beautiful could be mine.

The truth is, a big part of my appreciation of it was its uniqueness; also, its connection to Phil and home. Another part was the sheer novelty of wearing jewelry. Ordinarily, I hardly ever do. I'll put on a necklace for a while, wear it non-stop, be aggravated by the extra effort of taking it off for showers or bed, over and above taking off all my layers...;)  and finally (soon) settle back into necklace-less-ness(!) 

Putting this one on and taking it off gave an intentionality to the act of wearing it that was so new to me. Juxtaposed with the fact that all the other girls with whom I was in such close quarters had elaborate grooming and dressing routines, whole cases of jewelry and make-up to choose from every day, never mind the clothes, this awareness invited me to think about the act of wearing jewelry--what it says and does for and about a person.

Any ideas? 
I know some of the girls there said that it was one way to feel ok about themselves--to pay a lot of attention to their make-up/hair/jewelry. Now I'd always not-wanted to draw attention to my appearance, not-cared whether I felt ok about myself from that external perspective, but it all comes back to what you think of as normal. Being around it so much, I started to think that maybe paying more attention to appearance was normal, that maybe I should consider it.

I ended up with another necklace I liked a lot while at the Sandwich Academy, and a friend sent me a friendship bracelet, which I was so incredibly glad to get. I realized I'd always wanted a friendship bracelet and had never had one. Perhaps I'll learn to make them soon. But here's another thing I got so beautiful I can't believe it's mine.

I found this wonderful stall at the Arts Fair that happened toward the end of my time in Bellevue. The artist called her work 'copper lace' or 'silver lace'--she worked fine strands of those metals into bracelets and pendants, sometimes studded with gemstones or worked glass. She also reminded me of one of my most beloved poetry professors in her energy and spirit. We tried on lots of bracelets and I found one that I loved even more than the others, studded with citrine and garnet. It needed resizing, so she kept it overnight and I came back for my bracelet, made to measure for me, next morning!

Yes, isn't the juxtaposition with the friendship bracelet just wonderful?
You'd think I never wanted to wear a bracelet again, after all the identification bracelets at Foie Gras Farm and the privilege levels they connoted.
But what I realized with this beautiful copper on my wrist was that whereas I never really see a pendant, I can see a bracelet myself whenever I choose to look. A call to remind myself of..what? 
My own worthiness? 
To pay attention to my appearance/to appearances?
That there is beauty in the world?
That this too shall pass?

What does jewelry tell you?
Coming up: a guest post, from Mum!