Feet of Clay

As we close the curtains on one hell of a year, I'm reminded on how very important it is to be humble. When everything is going right in your life and you can do no wrong, well, that's an amazing feeling and a great place to be. But it's also an easy place to be. It's the trying times, the dark times, the times when you're weighed down by a 2-ton pile of boulders---those are the times that shape us and show us who we are. And motivate us to work harder on who we would like to be in the future.
 
Staying humble---remembering that we are all human, finite, imperfect...that we all have feet of clay---is an essential component to emotional and mental health, and ultimately, happiness. 

Today's earrings seem to have resonated with quite a few people, so I'd like to share them with you, dear readers. You know how much I love to discover old, obscure bits of anthropology. One of my latest finds are pumtek beads. Dating back as far as 400BC, the Chin people in Burma created pumtek beads from opalized wood indigenous to the area. They were worn as protective amulets, prized as heirlooms, and are signature for their striped and zig zag "lightening" patterns. Incredible.

I have used two of these precious pumtek beads to create little bud earrings using graduated stacks of rusty bead caps topped with dots of blackened silver solder. Time-worn, humble, and of-the-earth.

Thank you to each and every one of you for reading this year. Your support, uplifting words, and kinship are rays of sunshine to each of us on this blog. May your 2017 be full of light!

Happy Wednesday,
Nikki
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