This appears to be a random assortment of stuff on my wrists but it’s a bit more than that sometimes. They all have stories.
The brown bracelet at the top is something my sister got for me in Italy in 2006 or so. She also got me a blue one but I lost that ages ago. It’s funny, it falls off from time to time but it always finds its way back to me. I catch it unclasped but resting on my wrist, or tangled up in my blanket at night. The only thing I’ve known longer is myself and my family so I think that’s fitting. Even though we are not the closest siblings (although that may just be the way our personalities are). Hopefully it’ll make it to my next stop in life.
The silly bands are my reminder that it’s ok to be dorky, goofy, and silly — but mostly that it’s ok to myself. The pink one is a hedgehog, and the blue is a cat (I think? I change them every few months. I also have green, yellow and orange ones). I know I’m an odd duck. I hate being around people who draw aggressive attention to that. It stings. I don’t want pity though, I want it to be normal to choose to do things differently. It’s in the choice. Anyway, I’ve gotten a lot of comments on them from curious people who just think they’re fun and I think that’s the whole point of them. Have fun and enjoy life.
The blue/green bracelet says “Be Present”. It’s a ZOX bracelet and they have tons of bracelets like this with different artwork and sayings. I had to pick this one because I tend to look too far ahead, or regret too many things, and I know that my only solution in life is to be present. To be there, live in the moment, and focus on what I need to do then and there. It’s been a guiding force for the past few years of my life and I know it will continue to be.
I’ve never wanted anything that says “stay positive”, because when you put the pressure on yourself to try and be positive and you fail, then it really really sucks. It’s just overused and kinda tacky and it’s always so much easier said than done. The other side of the bracelet says no complaining, though, and I like that they go together. I like the bracelet in the end because it may be cheesy and it actually sort of reminds me what kind of advice not to accept. The best advice I have gotten from people is not to just “stay positive”. It’s to understand your reality, work as hard as you can, and to end up exactly where you need to be. And then to love it, even when things are tough.
My hair ties! I can’t forget about those. My black one is just the basic one that every single person needs. There’s not really a story there. The orange one is part of a pack of thick rainbow hair ties. They’re annoying because they’re just too tight when you first get them, so there’s a period of breaking them in where you worry about losing your circulation from time to time. I guess I randomly picked the orange color but it reminds me of my boyfriend. He’s aggressively ginger and he’s cute and he makes me laugh and he’s my favorite. The blue hair tie is one that one of my favorite athletes ever gave me. We went through a lot together and there were so many times that I just felt like a failure because I felt like I couldn’t do enough, but apparently it was. She gave the entire team one and even thought of me, which was the kindest because athletic trainers are notoriously left out.
So yes, sometimes they are just a random assortment of bracelets on my wrist, but sometimes they’re more than that. Maybe it’s my habit of assigning meaning to everything, but it’s something I like to do from time to time when I feel like I’ve lost my way.
