I was recently writing in my journal, as I often am, and found myself peeling back some layers of wisdom around value and self worth and what gems and precious metals have to teach us about this.
Have you ever read this quote? “A pearl goes up for auction. No one has enough, so the pearl buys itself.” -Rumi
For whatever reason this quote has been rattling around in my mind since I first heard it–I think I didn't fully understand what it meant, or perhaps I was overthinking it. But to me it points to the inherent value of the pearl, regardless of the meaning that anyone outside of it places upon it.
It makes sense that we would look to others to determine whether or not we are worthy….the value we place on things, in general, is a collective agreement. But if you excavate one layer deeper you find that there is value that’s innate.
You are the pearl, we are all the pearl. Each one of us unique, imperfectly perfect. After I pondered this another jeweler I follow posted about how working with gems and precious metals has shown her a lot about her own worthiness. Such a beautiful reflection!
Nature is full of metaphors and teachable moments. If we look at how the pearl is formed—it is the oysters’ response to a bit of sand or irritation inside its shell, encasing it with layer after layer of shimmery nacre—turning a pest into a thing of beauty in a great act of acceptance!
And as we watch metal prices climb right now we can see that our treasures are growing in value. Jewelry, like mine, is made out of beautiful materials from the earth– if they weren’t they would be losing value with time.
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Xo Meryl