How the Jewellery We Wear Tells the Story of Our Life
Jewellery, in all its forms tells the story of our life. Whether we choose a necklace or a bracelet, they all tell people more about who we are, and they remind us of places and people, events and special things.
Extending that idea, and compensating the fact that as we get older our memories sometimes need jogging, my jewellery now has a hidden agenda.
Replace Lists with Beauty
I am taking a health coaching course and learned that aide-mémoires, which are used to remind one to change one’s habits, are called anchors. I now have an anchor on my wrist which often gets in the way and so keeps jogging my memory about things I have chosen to change.
It is a beautiful crystal and a private signal for me and me alone. Ingrained habits plus a sieve-like memory need positive anchors. They are important, for if you don’t change the process you will never change the outcome.
The Trick Is in the Trinket
The Catholic church has used this jewellery system for years in the form of a rosary. If I want to remember a series of things when I go shopping, I use a beautiful rosary-type bracelet with lots of different coloured beads.
Each colour is assigned to a different category: blue for washing products, yellow for fruit and green for vegetables. I can check each category and remember what I need. No more leaving the list on the side in the kitchen!
Choose a Beautiful Object
If I have a friend in need, I light a candle in the kitchen. I choose one of the lovely scented ones that lasts for hours which keeps me in mind of that person.
Flights of Dietary Fancy
On my food cupboard I have stuck a stunning butterfly which reminds me that there are some foods I am not eating at the moment – either to lose weight or reduce allergies.
There is nothing more irritating than setting course and then forgetting, in the melee of everyday life, that a food is not on the list. As we get older, quite a few of us have sensitivities we never experienced earlier in life or weight gain that is new to us.
One Foot Firmly on the Ground
A beautiful ornament placed in a certain position can act as a reminder. As a Bowen practitioner, it was important that I leave the room after each part of the treatment.
Running a busy school surgery as medical matron, I once forgot one of the gardeners I was treating and luckily, he slept for the hour in which I forgot about him. After that, I made it a practice to always place a large wooden cat on my diary in the office whenever I was treating a patient!
Let’s Have a Conversation:
I would love to know about your aide-mémoires, your hidden agendas and how you use objects d’art to enrich your life. We can make every situation beautiful to enrich the soul, even the mundane shopping list! Please share below!
Tags Nostalgia
loved this I’m sharing this with my mother. Because her mother did something very similar. I do not know if you know this tradition among hindus, it is called Karimani which essentially means black beads, every menstrual flow a woman had a black bead would be added. in case she conceived if she delivered a baby girl they would add a pearl if it was baby boy it would be a coral. Of course, now the menstrual cycle, pearls and corals are forgotten the black beads are strung on a gold chain.
My very first, modest engagement and wedding band is always on my left hand. I have fancier anniversary rings and bands and do wear them at times but there is a whole life story in these rings first chosen over forty five years ago. Pearl drop earrings and my husband’s great-grandmother’s pearl necklace brought to America from Ireland. Two handmade bracelets our granddaughters made for me, all secrets and hidden languages of love. It really is a long list. I wore a thin fine gold chain with a tiny butterfly charm for ages until it became so fragile it is now only worn on the date of its anniversary. Just like the language of flowers, there are the languages of stones and gold and beads and charms.