Origins

At last! This is the origin of the title of my blog: a brooch by jeweller Barbara Heath. I saw an exhibition of her work years ago, but couldn't remember her name, only the scintillating name of one of her works. In recent times I have been trawling local libraries for books on jewellery. I found an entire book on her work and this was one of the featured pieces.

Now that I know where the phrase 'aid for the hopelessly inarticulate' came from, I am left wondering if I should do something about it? I feel relieved to be able to acknowledge a source of inspiration. However I am not sure if, in her place, I would be flattered or bothered if someone borrowed the name of something I created, to use for themselves.

all that sparkles

I have always thought it was possible to love your work. Maybe not all of your job, or every minute of it. But to be a person whose eyes light up when they talk about what they do.

I have been a person who becomes earnest and intense when they talk about what they do. I have even been passionate about it. I have talked at length about how important it is to get things right, railed against the things that rile me up and shared the ragged hope that has kept me going.

Feeling a pang when hearing about someone whose "eyes lit up" when talking about her work, the same work that I do, dealing with the inner stuff of people. I commented to my colleagues that I had never felt that way about doing what I do. They shrugged and said something like "you're just not that kind of person".

Knowing that I had to get out, that keeping going would eat me up, burn me out, kick the stuffing out of me and more. But what would I do instead?

I found the answer. It was pretty obvious, in hindsight. It's been dangling from my ears and twined around my fingers and trailed throughout my history. So I'm learning how to do what I love.

These are just the beginning. And now I sparkle too.