Day Twenty-Four: From Trash to Treasure...

For as long as I can remember, I have been a seeker of "things"...  As a child, no matter what setting I was in, it seemed there was something for me to find.  At my grandparents' house in Michigan it was fossils;  At our summer house in New Hampshire it was frogs and salamanders.  At my own house it was hide and seek with my neighborhood friends.  And at the beach it was seashells and sea glass.

Today, as I continue to seek out novel experiences it strikes me that things have not changed all that much.   Though the things I seek out are sometimes different, I am still a seeker at heart.  And so, it seems, is my son...  

In a sunshine inspired moment, I decided to take my son and daughter to the beach by myself today.  So after strapping my daughter into the front pack, I let Liam run.

After realizing that seeking seagulls to bring home is a futile act, he turned his attention to the ground and started handing me his treasures:  a rock, litter, seaweed, a clump of sand, a shell, and some sea glass...

While I have given up many of my childhood collections, there are still few activities I enjoy more than walking on the beach looking for sea glass.  There's something about a piece of trash, thrown into the ocean by a careless hand, that comes back to shore all smooth, polished and gorgeous from its time in the sea, that inspires me.  I love the transformation sea glass must go through, from trash to treasure, and it's become a metaphor for the perseverance and resilience of my clients, my loved ones, and myself.  I keep bowls of sea glass in my office as a reminder that we can make something positive come out of the negative things that happen in our lives.  There's a saying that's oft repeated in the therapy world that when life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade.  Apparently, when humans hand the sea their trash, it makes sea glass.  

I left the beach with my son's treasures in tow and, when I was later emptying my pockets, was inspired to find a novel experience that could utilize these found items - in particular the sea glass.  My many walks on the beach have led to quite the stash of sea glass sitting in ziplock bags in my aforementioned basement so I had no lack of materials to work with.  As is my habit, I turned to the internet for inspiration and found my idea for the day:  wire wrapped sea glass pendants.

While I did not have the perfect tools to work with, I had some left over wire, wire cutters, basic pliers, and enough sea glass to make thousands of pendants.

After finishing my first sea glass pendant, I found that I was hooked!  I think I may have found a new hobby!

So in closing, I am struck once again by Temple Grandin's theory that all human beings have a need to seek.  Whether a person is a novelty seeker or not, I wonder if we all are happiest when we are actively searching for something.  Or perhaps, at the most basic level, whether we are looking for sea glass or looking for novelty, we are actually seeking out happiness.