Fun Monday-Talisman

Our host this week, the misanthrope (Do you know what that means? If not, you should look it up.) has given us a very intriguing assignment:

Do you have a piece of jewelry or other item that holds great personal significance for you, and that you wear or keep with you every day? Show us a photo of your talisman, and tell us why it is so important to you.

Hints: Your talisman could be your wedding ring…or your lack thereof! Maybe it’s a bracelet or watch that belonged to a beloved relative or friend. Perhaps your item is significant in your faith, if you are of a religious persuasion, or maybe it is a proud symbol of your ethnicity. Maybe it’s something silly, that makes you smile every time you look at it! Maybe your talisman is actually part of you - perhaps you got a tattoo to mark a significant event in your life. I’m also thinking about our recent observation of Veterans’ Day here in the USA: Perhaps you have a loved one who is far away - in the military or otherwise - and you carry a memento of him or her with you every day.

Hmmm. I've never really thought about this before, but I am a creature of habit in some ways, especially when it comes to jewelry. I love jewelry, but I'm kind of a no fuss gal, so I tend to wear the same old pieces over and over, and they are pieces I really enjoy. I have a couple of necklaces featuring blown glass made by local artists, four silver bracelets, a gold bracelet, gold hoop earrings and silver hoops that I rotate. In pondering this assignment though, I realized there are two pieces I'm never without, and they are special to me. So I grabbed the camera, gave my best effort at a hand model pose and snapped away. Try not to notice how dry and chapped my hands are this early in the cold season. Here we go:

A few things to get out of the way first.

A-Scrawniest hands evah! If you've ever wanted to be a skinny girl, let me warn you, besides bird legs that never fit snugly into boots, you will have gnarly, bony hands that show every vein because they have no meat on them. Rejoice if you carry any weight at all in your hands.

B-OPI's Cha-Ching Cherry. Quite possibly the closest thing I have to a signature nail polish, and it's not really that close because I tend to change colors as often as the wind blows. The manicure is courtesy of my nail tech Cindy, who makes me look as if I know how to polish my nails..and file them...and have any sort of semblance of the girly girl gene. Too bad she can't do my makeup every morning. Or my hair.

C-This is my favorite Geoffrey Beene long sleeve 100% cotton shirt. I loved this shirt so much that I bought six of them last year in various colors and wore them to a nub. I had planned to buy more this year. I went into a panic last month when I heard that the Geoffrey Beene stores were going out of business, and I called around the country trying to locate more of these shirts to stockpile. Alas, they were gone since they were last year's item, and after wailing for ten minutes in the ear of the nice gentleman who answered the phone at the Gatlinburg, Tennessee store, I gathered up my dignity, quietly said "thank you" and hung up defeated. If you find these shirts, call me.

Now, on to the important stuff. I am never without my wedding ring. This is the beautiful diamond and band Hubby surprised me with last Christmas. Oh, how I love this ring. I never take it off because I believe if you're married you should wear your ring. It is a symbol. It tells the world something about you, and it keeps you honest. I had to leave mine at the jeweler's last month to have it resized, and I felt completely naked without it. I wear my original wedding rings on my right hand.

The ring is important, but the item I especially want to focus on is this bracelet. It is probably the one thing that comes closest to being a talisman.

I wear it nearly every day. I bought it from the Margaritaville catalog back before everyone had a piece of jewelry with a flip-flop on it. It's my little reminder each day to live life to the fullest. To dance, even when no one else is. To sing out loud, even though I can't carry a tune, and to look for paradise no matter where I am. I bought this not too long after my nephew died and I had promised myself to not take life for granted anymore. This little silver bracelet is a gentle nudge at the end of my arm to keep that promise. And as odd as it sounds, it also helps me to remember during the long dreary winter months that summer is always around the corner. It keeps me hanging on until warm weather returns. It also helps me to dream that maybe one day I'll be able to afford a little cottage in Aruba where I can retire and live out my senior years on the beach...in my flip flops. Now then, I've rattled on enought. Trot over to misanthrope's and check out what everyone else is baring...I mean sharing.