Tuesday's Drop Everything and Twist free wire class project is "Open Heart Earrings." They celebrate self-love. A love for each and every one of us. (Supply list is on the Free Wire Class page on this site).
The 12 mm Swarovski rivolis in light siam are contained within square filigree components by Vintaj. Despite their antiqued "cages" the crystals’ brilliance and radiance cannot be contained - spilling forward into droplets of 4mm and 6 mm bicones that drip off the ends of antiqued rollo chain. Love is infectious – self-love too. Here’s the source of my inspiration for earrings that celebrate self-love:
As Valentine's Day approaches, stories of love are tossed around by the media. Walgreens and the "Marts" heart-shaped red boxes tempt with chocolates. As we walk about our towns, store windows (mine included) glare back at us, poking at buried feelings. In America, there is no way to avoid the nature of the day. While some of us grieve loves lost, or unrequited, others revel in new-found lovers. Some of the luckiest souls with deeply wrinkled faces celebrate well-seasoned, long time bonds and shared memories. No matter where you find yourself in life's never-ending changes and cycles, crest or trough, there is one core abiding and precious love that cannot be taken by anyone or anything: Self-Love.
While self-love often gets a bad rep, as the root of selfishness, and self-centered behavior - I disagree. The ability to see ourselves as basically good, despite our flaws and mistakes, provides us each with the cushion and resilience to weather the harsh realities of our lives as social creatures. We are flawed, and yet, we need each other. Everyday, we bump up against family members, co-workers, friends and strangers. Sometimes colliding flaws lead to hurts and misperceptions. If allowed to gather steam, we can find ourselves dealing with resentments and even broken relationships. It isn't a leap to walls, barricades, and emotional isolation. How, then is it possible to love?
If we can find deep love for our own soul and spirit, our heart becomes full. Unable to contain itself, it opens, and the precious contents spill forth, infecting others. Somehow all flaws seem smaller and less important. Resentments become tempered and short-lived. Forgiveness is possible. The need to hide and avoid slips away. We can gently and firmly say "no" to abuse and toxic relationships. We don't fear loneliness.
For me it is an ongoing struggle against the odds. I have been blessed with a taste of this magic. Yet, some deep-seated program always threatens to reverse the process and set me back. For those like me, it takes practice, willingness and faith. But I know, know, know, that recovery and transformation is possible. Everyday, people all across this world "work" to recover from traumas (big and small), and love themselves again. Because in the end, loving one's self, no matter how elusive, is the start. With the seed of self-love, one open heart seeks another, and the blossom of shared love becomes possible.
2 Poems and 1 Quote About Love
Was, Is, and Always Will Be
Once I was
The Heart,
The Center,
The Reason,
Then not so.
Then I was
Put aside,
Until I learned
To step aside,
Now not so.
Now I am my own
Heart,
Reason,
And Center.
This is so
And so it goes.
-JLH
Where is the love?
Elusive love hides
Before me all the time
Waiting to be found
-JLH
"There is a crack in everything God has made."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
