Joyful Imperfections
Perfectly Imperfect
It all started with a conversation on a bus full of strangers. It was my first time tagging along on this particular trip. While there were hugs, glasses of champagne and a raucous telling of previous years stories that echoed through the bus. I sat in my seat feeling my usual shy self. Searching for a way to connect with someone and failing desperately to come up with anything whatsoever to say. If you’re an introvert or have any social anxiety, you probably know the feeling. First impressions are often terrible and yes, I’m often mistaken for the shy persons dilemma of resting bitch face.
I’d left at home (Well my Dad’s home) a sick pup. She had been fairly recently diagnosed with bone cancer and was trying to recover from an amputation We’d done in the hopes that it might give us another year with her. She just wasn’t herself though or healing the way that we’d hoped. We’d started to feel like we were hanging on for us, and not for her. She was ready to go, and we needed to come to terms with that. It was decided that when I got back it would be time.
Meanwhile, the bus rambled on and voices got louder in correlation to the number of drinks consumed. The woman sitting in the row in front of me introduced herself and started telling me who everyone was, how they knew each other, and told me that if I needed a cheat sheet of names at any time she’d be happy to help. Needless to say, this sweet new acquaintance took me under her wing and we instantly hit it off. We connected in a way that can be a rarity in this world.
Curving uphill to the next vineyard, I got a text. It was from my Dad. She had been suffering and they just couldn’t make her to wait for me to get home. She’d gone quietly and they were with her. My baby I got for my 21st birthday was gone and here I was trying to make small talk and keep my tears under control. The day felt so much larger than small talk.
I opened up to Shannon, feeling silly all the while about my super emotional state and was greeted with nothing but love. We talked about the imperfections of humanity and how those quirks and differences are what make us interesting. How there’s no such thing as perfect and how we felt like the connecting that we were doing at that moment is what we search for with people.
Later, when we were home. Shannon’s husband Kevin asked me to make a piece for her birthday. He left the theme of the piece up to me. So, as I sat brainstorming, thinking about who Shannon was, I was brought back to that conversation. Deciding that a ring would be a beautiful reminder. I set out to interpret that in metal. With stone settings that are all different and slightly offset, three light grey diamonds make their homes there. The band is polished and bright with intentional hammering only on the bottom.
My hope is that it gets more lovely with time. Just as I think that we as people do.
Bonus Goodies….
Oh My God Amazing
