Seeing this piece come to life was the coolest. After collecting beach glass for years and staring at it, eventually separating it by color and then staring at it again wondering what on earth you do with that much beach glass- the idea popped into my head and I'm so so happy it did.
Growing up on a beach on Long Island, I have such an appreciation for the water and the treasures that come from it. My grandma instilled an appreciation for everything beach related with her hundreds and hundreds of shells she turned into mirrors and won tons of awards for (did you know there is a competitive shell mirror/craft circuit? ...the more you know~) and her jars and jars of beach glass. At 93 she is still dreaming and creating different kind of beach related magic, she's spunky, creative and the ultimate DIY-er and I love her for it. This piece impressed her and for that, I'm real proud of myself.
For some reason in my mind I anticipated the process being simple and fast..lol. After putting together and taking apart every area/continent approx 15 times, I was able to go back and glue every single piece down. The gluing part gave me a lot of time to think not only about how unique and special every single piece of glass is, but also how cool to create the world out of so many individually unique pieces. Every piece of beach glass has a story, a story I hope is a happy one- a few beers with friends, a night spent around a beach fire celebrating something; I'm sure there are some sad stories, crazy stories and weird ones too. However the glass ended up down the beach turning into beach glass, I'm really happy it did!
Today I glued down the last few pieces and after a few attempts to stand it up and realizing there were pieces I missed, it was successful! After what happened in Manchester last night I feel like the world is hurting and scared, I know my heart breaks for the people affected by the violence. At the same time it is so important to not get stuck in the fear and miss living and enjoying the world. Easier said than done. I know personally, I sometimes get so scared by the violence and terror thats out there but at the same time I don't want to let that impact how I live my life. There is also so much kindness, love and compassion out there too. I am so incredibly grateful to have experienced traveling to and living in so many different places so far. For me, the beach will always be my home, but I've found you can find and create home anywhere in the world. I'm so happy that I was able to create this out of tiny pieces of glass from the place where I grew up to make up the world that I hope to never stop exploring.
So here is to the natural beauty thats always around us, to the tiny pieces of happiness you can find everyday and to the world as a whole. I hope everyone gets to explore, experience and fall in love with all of the places~
Happy Tuesday, friends! xo
