Kitchen Table Thursdays – Mom’s Pearl

The World Is Your Oyster – Go Find Yourself A Pearl.

This was one of Mom’s favorite sayings. I don’t think I figured out what that meant until I was a teenager. Then I didn’t want oysters and pearls and allegories or metaphors. Like most teens, I wanted experience and to live my life by my own rules!

Now that I’ve had the opportunity to have that experience I have to thank Mom for cementing that phrase into my mind. It’s actually an important one that carries a lot of meaning for me. However, the deepest meaning for me is that YOU have to go find YOUR pearl – it isn’t going to just fall in your lap nice and easy.

There’s a personal responsibility for providing for one’s own happiness or financial state in there – plain and simple. We weren’t raised to expect things to be easy or given to us, we were raised that life was hard and you got out of it what you put in to it.

Another meaning is to remember to stop and smell the roses (look for the pearls) along the way. Whether it is taking a moment to watch a child at play, watching the clouds drift across a powder blue sky, or watching a spider spin her web, take time to connect with that which is within you, for in doing that you achieve the higher part of yourself.

Don’t forget the connection between pearls and wisdom either! In many of the ancient traditions the pearl is the font of wisdom. The Celts hold the pearl high in their symbolism. Animals depicted with a pearl were said to be wise. “Pearls of wisdom!” Sometimes Mom was intentionally sending me out there, knowing I would fail! She wanted me to know that I can fail and still keep going. She wanted me to understand that just because one thing didn’t work the way it was supposed to, that didn’t mean I got to throw out the whole project and quit. She wanted me to garner the wisdom that application of effort over time normally pays off to your advantage.

Now pearls are a motivation for me. Pearls remind me of Mom and the strength of character with which she lived her life. Pearls are a connection. Pearls are a reminder. What’s your pearl?