tuesday treasures

found via Pinterest, original source Mrs Amber Apple

"Happy thou art not; For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get, And what thou hast, forget'st." -William Shakespeare from Measure for Measure

I thought I'd try something new on here.

Every Tuesday, I'm going to put up a photograph (or several!) of an object in my home that I treasure.  I will tell you the story behind it.  In doing so, I'm hoping that I'll not only get myself posting on here a bit more often (rather than every few months as has been the pattern so far in 2011!) but also an exercise in gratitude and in common sense.  I already have plenty and do not need to wander the King's Road or Oxford Street like a homing pigeon every weekend, buying things I don't need.  I am trying to save at the moment too, but regardless of how much money I have I don't need to go out and buy things I don't need when I have so much already.  Many years ago when I was at the beginning of my health and fitness journey, before I put anything in my mouth I would say to myself, "do I really need this right now?" and often the answer would be no.  So I'm putting that into practice again.

Anyway, on to Tuesday Treasures.  There are so many things in my home that I love to look at and be reminded of the place I got it, or the person who gave it to me.  My living room and bedroom are a kaleidescope of memories.  Scents and dust do not disturb them.  Age does not weary them.

Years ago when I was packing up my belongings in Melbourne, I remember being so bone weary and almost crying with frustration having to deal with all this...stuff.  Some of it I didn't even know why I had.  Just being desperate to escape the situation I had been in the year before, I had flung things into boxes and thought I'd sort it out later.  I didn't even know what was in half of them.  I ended up giving things away, selling things on eBay, leaving things on the street for people to help themselves to if they wished.  My boxes that I shipped to England had mostly books in them.  My favourite mug (I'll show it to you next week).  A teapot.  Photographs.  Very little else.

If you've ever left your country and don't know when, or if, you'll be back, you'll know how strange it feels; like you're at a party and a funeral all at the same time.  One thing I resolved to myself during that time was that I would never allow myself to be weighed down by possessions ever again.  I would only have things around me that were useful or that meant something to me.  Everything else had to serve its purpose and then be passed on.  I've mostly lived like that for the past four years, and have accumulated many treasures in that time that I would be loathe to part with, but slowly the clutter, the unnecessary, the "why do I have this?" element is creeping back.  It's time for a clean out.

So without further ago, today's treasure is this:

It's a little tin that once held a single chocolate.

Last year, one of my dearest friends, who I have known since we were seven, flew over to London for my wedding.  She also went over to Berlin to see her aunty who lives there, and when she came back, she gave me this.

The chocolate was divine.  I remember it was like a truffle, crusted with tiny sugar crystals.  Unlike every other chocolate I've eaten, this one left a memento behind.

I keep the tin on my dresser.  Looking at it always makes me think of last September, the wedding, and her being here.  And inside I keep.....another treasure....

These are the earrings I wore on my wedding day.  My mum and dad bought them for me and they are my favourite.  They are the little black dress of earrings.  They make any outfit, even just a white t shirt and jeans, look amazing.  I love that I can wear them with anything; their gentle weight and glittering edges that catch the sunlight remind me of that happy, happy day.

With some big changes possibly ahead of me, I'm finding comfort in the little things.  Cliches are cliches for a reason :)

What's your Tuesday Treasure? 

Please do join in on your own blogs - leave a link in the comments so we can check your treasure out! I'll try and get one of those widget thingys working on here too.


Update: result! Widget link thingy below. Oh, and I just remembered it might be Wednesday where you are by now :P