Be glad as children

"My friends, ask gladness from God. Be glad as children, as birds in the sky. And let man's sin not disturb you in your efforts, do not fear that it will dampen your endeavor and keep it from being fulfilled, do not say, 'Sin is strong, impiety is strong, the bad environment is strong, and we are lonely and powerless, the bad environment will dampen us and keep our good endeavor from being fulfilled.' Flee from such despondency, my children! There is only one salvation for you: take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for all the sins of men. For indeed it is so, my friend, and the moment you make yourself sincerely responsible for everything and everyone, you will see at once that it is really so, that it is you who are guilty on behalf of all and for all. Whereas by shifting your own laziness and powerlessness onto others, you will end by sharing in Satan's pride and murmuring against God." (Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, Book VI, Chapter 3)

For this necklace I was inspired by father Zosima the elder's teachings, from the Brothers Karamazov. And today it's also a very happy, glorious, sunny day... Perfect! Have a nice weekend everyone :)

The Hobbit

As December 14 approaches, the day when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes out, I happened to watch a trailer on the Tolkien fan Facebook page. Every Tolkien fan is excited, it seems, and I am no exception. If you want to go to the movie site, where there's a lot to do, it's here.

My favorite image was this:

Naturally, I went back to the book. I wanted to find the exact lines that epitomize the whole book, so to speak. This is what I came up with:

This line is from Chapter 18, from the Thorin's last words: 'There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.' How can anyone beat that?

These words are so important to remember and so comforting, for when we have lost faith. What an inspiring line to wear! It is a 31 inch long chain necklace, so it matches all the current fashion trends perfectly, and I used a locket instead of a plain setting, to imply that all you have to do to find faith again, is to search in your soul. The treasure is in the soul. If you like this piece, it is available here.

The Cock and the Pearl

A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens, when suddenly he saw something shining in the straw. ‘Ho! Ho!’ said he, ‘That’s for me!’, and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? ‘You may be a treasure to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barleycorn than a peck of pearls’, said the cock.

Moral: Precious things are for those that can prize them.

(Aesop, The Cock and The Pearl).

Available here.

White Roses

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John Boyle O'Reilly (1844-1890)

A White Rose

The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.





You will find the earrings already in my shop, and the necklace is coming soon...