Happiness/Gratitude Check In Week 6

I love collecting jewelry and wear it daily.

Some of my rings and a glimpse of the limoge boxes.

My jewelry boxes and a better shot of the limoge boxes.

This is a piece of Kosta Boda art glass with many necklaces and a red feather pin made by my friend, Fran. More decorative boxes.

I love 2 or 3 tier trays for storing jewelry and I've been collecting them for years. The jewelry is so easy to find.

A necklace I bought at an estate sale. Aren't the beads great?

A pierced china candy dish filled with a plethora of necklaces. Many have been made by friends.

This still life sits on top of a floor jewelry cabinet.

I collect eyeglasses too. They are an accesssory, too!

In my walk in closet I have an antique chest of drawers that I have jewelry sitting on top of. These are all pins--all kinds. I fell in love with "Aluminum Ware" as it is great for storage purposes and always very prettily decorated.

Sometimes a person has to go back--to have a sense, an understanding of all that's gone to make them--before they can go forward. * Paule Marshall

Maybe being oneself is always an acquired taste. * Patricia Hampl

More this week on who I am and what I am.

Sunday: From the pictures above, you can see that I have a nice jewelry collection. I have often thought that I have something to wear with every outfit I own now and anything that I care to buy in the future. It's not so disgusting of a thought when you consider that I have been collecting for years. I love antique pieces and I also like current artist pieces. I have long believed that my jewelry is a personal statement. I don't feel it is costuming as in theater. It is more a glimpse of my colorful creative self. I love to get gifts of jewelry.

Monday: Watching birds in my backyard has made me happy. It is a simple pleasure. A former boyfriend, Frank, gave me a gazebo birdfeeder several years ago that has been one of the best gifts I have ever received. I think this because I have gotten so much enjoyment out of it almost daily. I am always amazed at how many different types of birds are out in the backyard at the same time. All living in symbiotic harmony. There seems to be no race issues among birds, although I have noticed some are more aggressive than others. It seems to be more about size than type. I have had red finches come to visit for several years. They returned this past week and I was very happy to see them. I like to watch birds outside my yard too. I am not an avid bird watcher like some of you, but I do enjoy watching the Hawks alongside the freeway, Herons on the river, and Eagles. Woodpeckers and Quail are also birds I have enjoyed watching.

Tuesday: I grew up in a house that was filled with beautiful things--old and new. It is no wonder that my house, too, would reflect this esthetic. Through time, I chose to go more over the top than they did. More of everything including stuff and color. My mix of things has come through inheriting and through estate sales and of course, through time. My friend visited last week and we were talking about the concept of "clean." I made the statement that my house is clean on the surface only, but it is always neat. He could not wrap his mind around my concept of clean and neat as I have so much "clutter," as he put it. No offense taken. I see his point. In another life, I lived as a Victorian woman and this clutter is natural to and enjoyed by me. I sometimes feel that having so many beautiful things has been like golden handcuffs that chain me to the life I am living. I can't just buy a ticket and move off to another world. So I continue to live in my world filled with eye candy.

Wednesday: I have always liked art. I think that I am mainly attracted to it from a purely color standpoint. Color attracts me. It excites me. One of my earliest memories of being interested in an artist came in college when I discovered this strange artist, Gustav Klimt. Oh, my God, did he attract me... Even after all these years, I find the attraction is still burning within me.

Thursday: Men have always been a big part of my life. I'd prefer to have a long term boyfriend and don't like to date serially. My relationships have tended to be longer than they should have been and in the end I have often walked away feeling almost nothing. This has probably been because I waited too long to end it. I have loved, I have lost, I have missed, I have enjoyed, I have given and I have benefited. My last long term relationship lasted 6+ years. He was very different from me and it made me change in both ways I wish that I had not and in those I can appreciate. In the past year, I dated on-line many people that were not right for me. WOW! I decided that I was not interested in doing this anymore and basically went off-line. Maybe I need more time alone. Maybe if I work on myself now, I'll be better when I meet him or when he is ready for me. I want a relationship again. I'd like to find my last relationship. Are you out there?

Friday: I have always had a lot of friends. I like and enjoy a lot of different types of people. Recently, I have come to the realization that despite the fact that I have all these people whom I care about, I don't nurture these relationships. Instead of calling and reaching out to people I care about, I am cocooning in my home. I spend way too much time alone. When I do spend time with people, I find myself sometimes acting very needy as if I haven't had anyone listen to me in a long time. This also might be because at work I spend a lot of time alone. This has got to stop. I need to reach out and get back in the game. If I call you my friend, I do care about you. Do you feel the same way sometimes?

Saturday: Books! Books! Books! From an early age I have always liked to read. I remember reading in the summertime with the goal to mark off each book on a list and receive a ribbon. I think I was more concerned with getting the reward than in the books themselves. As I got older I think this evolved into reading too fast and not comprehending. Remember those reading programs where there were laminated cards with different colored headings? Or were they just in Catholic schools? You would be placed in a level to being with and then everyweek you'd read a card in that series and afterwards answer the questions. I remember being frustrated that I wasn't very good because other people were in way higher colors... This might have been about the time I started realizing one big aspect of my real personality. I go way too fast at almost everything. I don't think in those days they realized this about me. It came up first in Retail Management and Buying. "Slow Down!" was a common theme in reviews and actually still is.

I always have a book going. Only one at a time. The books I enjoy the most take me to a place I have never been. I love historical romances. These books usually are well researched about time time and place so while enjoying the story you also learn about how people lived and worked during that time. Needless to say I love English and Classic Literature.

Did I tell you that I was called up to become a FBI agent? Yep! One of my majors in college was in Criminology. After college, I had dated two FBI agents who got me interested in taking the tests and applying. In the end, I did not end up going to Quantico because I was getting married. Probably it was a good thing I did not join as I am hardly black or white in many things. I also love mysteries, detective series and forensic science stories.

Another week gone by. I think going forward, I will not be writing daily excerts have I have the past 6 weeks. I've enjoyed doing this, but feel that maybe you might be thinking that this is not an artful blog anymore and that is what I want it to be. Thanks for reading!