charmed, i'm sure

Ever since my kindergarten teacher gave the storyteller's stool to me I have been reluctant to give it up. I thrive on the story, those others and of my own. I tell them over lunch, in the grocery line, at the supper table, and in my own head in the middle of the night, but that's just a piece of who I am.

I can't remember if the charm bracelet was a gift from my children or to myself from me, but I've had it for years. Once a few years ago when I misplaced it for a few weeks, I woke in the middle of the night in tears because it felt truthfully that I had lost a piece of myself. Lots of pieces.

There are two typewriters hanging from it. At least two dogs. A rocking chair and a rolling pin. A starfish, a guitar (well, that's not me but is my son), a camera, and the State of North Carolina. An eagle scout pin (another son one). Birdhouse, sailboat, pineapple, pinecone.

A story in each.

I’m a writer who loves to tug the story out of myself and others. One of my working joys is to be able to string words together so they sound a bit like music, at least to me. I work to tell the story of how God works in mysterious ways in all our lives. And in my previous job at Church Lady, I used every professional skill I've ever learned, including typing, which at 17 was convinced I would never need.

Writer, mender, mind-bender, bird watcher, yeast roll baker, wife ,listener, questioner, Christian, daughter, mother, picture taker, sister, crybaby, friend. That’s me, strung together in all those charms.

Years ago, I decided to use the bracelet and its many facets of me as my ‘logo’ for my writing work. I took a picture of it and added that to my blog, my emails, and my invoices.

I’ve recently begun redesiging this website in an effort to connect more with readers, and the charm bracelet takes center stage once again. After I had breast cancer, the site went dormant for a few years, but as I’m hopeful of exciting new work challenges in the months ahead, it seemed like a good time to trot it out again. I hope to create new content, and I’m setting up a Substack (more on that soon.)

I rarely wear the bracelet anymore because neuropathy in my fingertips keeps me from opening the clasp. But as I took a new picture of it for the site, I studied each of charm, remembering who gave them to me and what they remind me of about my life.

It helps, I find, to remind ourselves who we are from time to time, when in the busy-ness of our lives it feels as if we have forgotten.

We are all a collection of what’s charming (and what’s not) about us, after all.