Mountain Girl Silver - Hand-Stamped Customized Silver Jewelry - Portland, Oregon

I know it’s kind of cliche’ to do the whole going around the dinner table at Thanksgiving and saying what you’re thankful for…. for that particular year or whatever. But.. have you ever really stopped to think what you are thankful for? Health? Wealth? Your kids? Your new pair of Nike slippers? I mean, have you really ??  I want you to stop what you are doing right now, look up at the ceiling, close your eyes, nevermind who might be looking at you like you’re a weirdo, and think… think hard…. what are the things in your life that you are thankful for. Even tho’ years F-L-Y by wayyyyy tooooo fassssssttttt, reflect on the beginning of the year, January, and go through the months one by one and try to remember something significant, what were you doing? How did you spend your spring? How did you spend your summer?

Naturally, when we reflect on the year, our minds automatically look back and note the negative….. the stress, the illnesses, the financial woes, the car accidents, the loss of pets, or whatever. The bad things pop up vividly, because they scar us. Yah, sure, we heal, but the scars are there.  We’ve got to start remembering the positives. The good things we witnessed, the good things that allowed us to grow. The fact that burdens made us stronger, and wiser.  I know that that one saying,, “What won’t kill ya will only make you stronger.”…. what a bunch of shit that sounds like right?? But it is so true. Sadly, it is true. Or… “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” …. PUH LEEZE!!!  Again, true.

I guess what I’m getting at, is that for the first time in a long time, I’m experiencing a clarity that has been shaded. I’m seeing things in a different light.  I look back on my past year and I’m blown away…..  I guess the one major thing I’m thankful for is the fact that we were able to move out of our old house and into a new, nicer neighborhood. Again, I try to look back and ignore all the crap that you have to do when you move…. the endless trips in the trailer, and unpacking boxes, and it was HOT that couple of weeks…  and we lived on fast food for a few days…. I remember the negatives.  But now, I’m sitting here in a beautiful office of my own, and I’m thankful for everything around me. The older I get, I’m learning not to take things for granted. It could all come to a screeching halt tomorrow.

Another thing I’ve learned recently, is that you just have to live one day at a time. You look too far into the future at your “goals” or whatever…  and you lose sight of what’s in your palms at the moment…. all you have for now is today. Be thankful for today. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Live for tomorrow, tomorrow. Live for next week, next week.

I know this sounds all Indian hair tampon-ish… and granoli…. but it really resonates deep within me this year. I’ve reflected a lot and I’m thankful for a lot. I’m thankful for my family and my friends. I’m thankful for the unconditional loving marriage I’m in, I’m thankful for the health of my kids. I’m thankful for the trees that I stare at from this very chair……….  even superficially thankful for this new kick ass computer monitor I recently got. I’m thankful that I haven’t yet killed my orchid, I’m thankful that none of my fish have died recently, I’m thankful that I’ve learned more about running a business this year, I’m thankful that I can stay at home with my kids and earn income doing something I’m totally passionate about. I’m thankful that gold is so expensive right now that people are buying sterling silver instead….. HA HA HA….  But seriously, I’m thankful for myself. That may sound a little conceited, and maybe lame… but I am. I’ve grown so much this year. I’ve matured in ways that I didn’t even know I could mature.  Life is nuts. Nothing in life is easy. But that’s what makes it all fun and challenging. If you take things for granted, then you’re never going to be able to feel thankful.

So this Thanksgiving, when it’s your turn to spit out what you are thankful for……..  really let it out. Get it off your chest, let people in your life know that you are thankful for them and what they mean to you. So often things get left unsaid……..    Life is too damn short……  spit it out……    Live for today, be thankful for today. And at the end of the day, reflect on the day, because when today is over, you’ll never get it back again.

Just recently, a gal called me wanting to know if I would offer a discount on a large order for her……. as she was getting ready to head to her annual gathering/trip with her gal pals from elementary school. Initially, with the way the silver market is these days, I hesitated, but ultimately said yes.. Afterall, she introduced herself as a fellow “mountain girl” and her and her buddies were going to hook up in some mountain cabin and build fires and chop wood n’ stuff like that. I was still a little hesitant, but when he said that she wanted “Mountain Girl” with the mountain stamp on them, seriously, how could I even say “NO”???  My signature stamp (which is stamped somewhere on every piece that goes out the door) is a very subtle, clean, but very detailed stamp of Mt. Hood. The mountain that I stare at all day. The mountain that inspires me to reach great things, the mountain that keeps me here. It’s the mountain that entertains my free spirit in the winters as I blow down the slopes, the mountain that is the base of where I sleep under the starry skies, camping, in the summer. Essentially it is the mountain that keeps me here. And it is a beautiful stamp, but very rarely do I stamp it on the front of things, I never oxidize it to make it stand out…. it’s as if it’s MY little secret…MY mountain.  There was NO WAY I was going to stamp these ovals with “Mountain Girl” and then just huck the generic mountain stamp that I carry on there and make it all ugly and unoriginal. In case you’re not catching on here, I’m not a big fan of my generic mountain stamp. I’ve GOT to find a better one forsure! So I made an exception to my rule, and had to stamp my stamp on these gals’ bracelets. They …..turned…..out……awesome!! Pictured to the right, is a photo that Jessica H. sent me after their trip was over. Along with the photos, an email about how much fun it was, how much her gifts to her friends was, and how it was if I was there in spirit to celebrate and have a kick ass time. So thank you ladies!! Thanks for letting me be a part of your fun time. And the fact that you all still hang out once a year and you’re friends from high school and there are EIGHT of you that still work at the friendship…..  bravo zulu!!  Friendship is a total blessing, and to have 8 friends from 20 years ago in your life… well … theres something to be said for that!!

I work on many projects. Some are more fun than others. For instance, me and Daneen just recently had to stamp something like 250 ovals for a book club that was hosting a signing for the author Alice Hoffman. And while it was a cool thing to be a part of, the stamping got to be very mundane and very monotonous and very “boring” if you will.  Stamping the same thing over and over and over and over and over again gets old…… really quick.  Stamping each letter individually, there were 250 ovals, all of which had at least a 6 letter words on them, picking up the hammer twice per letter, I dunno… you do the math..  that’s why I’m an artist, not a professor… ha hah ah

But that’s not to say that I don’t absolutely LOVE what I do. I couldn’t think of a more gratifying job than the one I have. The one I created out of silver.  It didn’t just pop out of “thin air”… it popped out of silver. ;c)

At the beginning of the year (and here we are, almost at the end already) I blogged about how I wanted this year to be full of change, and I wanted to have a spiritual awakening, and I wanted to start taking better care of myself. Well, as the year progressed, I never forgot about that particular blog post. But I continued to think, “Man,,, when am I really going to start changing?”  ”Ahhhh I still have 6 months, I’ll work on it later”…..  Well… let’s just say that this caterpillar is turning into a beautiful butterfly……. day by day…. one day at a time….