The armful of questions....
If it's not my outfit that first catches one's attention, it's my wrist-full of bracelets. I am constantly asked, "Do those bracelets have meaning, or do you just pile them on?" To answer this frequently asked question, the answer is yes, and yes.
Each bracelet that I wear on my left wrist literally holds a true meaning to it. All but one. Let me break it down for you. Here's a bit more of a spread out picture so that I can explain them all, one by one.
Starting from the left: The brown square beaded bracelet is handmade from India. When I worked in Manhattan in the fashion industry, the owner of the company that I worked for went to India and London. He brought back this bracelet for me, a gift from India and a coveted jewelry item of young girls my age there. I love it, though it's been through a lot!
The next one, you can't really see, it's brown rope with colored beads. It's called a Salvation Bracelet. There are 6 colored crosses: yellow, green, blue, white, red and black. Each color symbolizes being saved through Christ, from creation, to sin, to death. It was given to me in El Salvador at a home bible study at an El Salvadorian families' home. It's my favorite bracelet on my arm.
The next one, a navy multi-stranded and silver beaded bracelet was a find at a vintage shop. It's totally stretched out, but I still love it.
The sky blue and gold chain bracelet was one of those things that you spot, grab, and just buy. I think I paid $3 for this one. It kind of cheers me up, in the simplest way.
The tan leather and sterling silver bracelet is one that my mom surprised me with one day. My mom never really buys me gifts, so I wear this one all the time, it reminds me that she loves me!
The purplish looking one is actually purple and yellow and a little bit green, although it's fading. This is actually from my very first Grateful Dead concert. I went with my sister and my bro in law. I'll never ever forget it. We tie dyed clothing, and I made this dress. It was SO hot the day of the concert, so I cut the short sleeves off of my dress, wrapped red silk fabric around the back, turning it into a racerback dress. I tied a piece of the scraps around my wrist and lever took it off since. Not only do I have this bracelet to remember this day, but I also have a huge scar on my toe. That's a whole different story....
The white and red/orange beaded one is a bracelet that I made while in between surf session breaks on the beach one day a few summers back. I had this necklace, which had these beads on it. It broke one day, and I just threw all of the beads and the string into my bag and never took it out. One day, I found it while looking for something on the beach. I whipped up a quick bracelet, threw it on, and it's been in tact ever since. That same week, I saved a kayaker's life. Definitely the coolest week ever.
The blue beads used to have an angel wing, but it's lost somewhere now. I still look at it and think of the angel wing and am reminded it that I'm always protected.
The green cat's eye bracelet is something I've had for AGES. I remember being like, 10 years old and having this bracelet. I look at it and think of growing up.
It's pretty mind blowing what a bunch of bracelets can hold. You may always have your memories, but for some reason, I always have a bracelet to match a memory. I wear my memories with pride.
