a new signature

For years I've been fixated on buying only things that make a big statement, but for several months now, I've been more interested in acquiring quiet pieces that can be a meaningful signature.

One item I was hunting for in particular was a simple chain necklace with a small pendant that nestles at the base of the throat. Everywhere that I looked, though, I couldn't find anything that meant something to me. Necklaces were either too loud or cutesy. This is not too surprising -- I've been writing it repeatedly at work: recent jewelry trends are for bold pieces.

Eventually, I ended up searching my jewelry box. I found the ankh pendant that Karl gave me when we just got together and suddenly it seemed like the perfect thing to have. I never took to wearing it because I felt like it was a remnant of my old fascination with hippies and goth kids -- something I thought I already put behind me. But of course, you probably never outgrow the things that you take a liking to during your early teens. They're too formative a period. I'll always like looking a bit bohemian or gothic when dressing up.

More importantly, I put on the pendant at a time that Karl and I had some serious drama. When I wore it, I felt the new love he had for me then, how beautiful he made me feel whenever we were together. I needed that feeling at that moment, when I thought he would never make me feel that way again. The great thing about it, though, was that he made a point of noticing my wearing it. He said it in a way that seemed to me, that he knew why this was meaningful to me. And maybe to him too.