When I was a little girl, I used to form unhealthy attachments to inanimate objects. I would hold tight to the memory of where it came from, who had gifted it, or how long it had been in my life. My things became tiny friends...whispered stories in my room at night.
Not a lot has changed, and these days I still fill our house with little reminders of all these memory-soaked corners of my mind. Piles of rocks and shells, cards, textiles, and book ends.
In the Summer of 2009, Michael and I went on a road trip to Colorado to camp and hike. Somewhere along the 12 hour drive, I cut two pieces of an old fabric I'd had for years, and stitched them into a little bracelet. When I put it on, I had no idea how long it would actually be there.
To be exact, the bracelet lived to be 2 years old. And after that day that I put it on my wrist, I never took it off again. Until today. Underneath it is one pale stripe around my wrist, a memory in itself of all the Summer adventures that my little friend lived through.
Like one barefoot, muddy girls-only weekend in Austin with my best friend.
The little bracelet got a little bit more bleached in the sun & salt....
and Florida wetlands.
Cliff-diving over Summer weekends....
...and little road trips along the way.
And one year later, it traveled back to Colorado. And it was around my wrist the day we got home and I took a pregnancy test.
It was a Summer I will always remember.
Summer Adventures from Aura on Vimeo.
Full of new adventures.
Little bracelet traveled back to Austin to eat some yummy food and introduce baby E to some of the best migas that she will ever have.
And at 11:20am, it was mixed in to hospital bracelets and around my wrist, on the morning that Elodie was born.
You made it two years, bracelet. Two years full of exciting memories and life-changing moments that were soaked into your worn, bleached threads. Goodbye, little friend.
58 comments:
wonderfully fun video. love the ending. i too saved stuff... still struggle with it a bit! xx
I completely understand your attachment to "things". When I was little I would get new pair of shoes a year. Even though I was beyond excited for this new treat (specifically pink high top converse with dinosaurs) I had this ache in the pit of my stomach about leaving my old shoes "out". shoes have feelings too, right? RIGHT???
amazing post. i don't know if you remember me (my LJ name was "lookbanana") but we used to follow each other on livejournal when you were "boylovesgirl"! but after reading you on blogspot now it's really amazing to see how far you've come and how beautiful your life has become. i loved the video. i loved the post about the little bracelet, because i, too, become attached to little things like this. congratulations on the new little one! she is going to be sooo beautiful. we're strangers, but it does warm my heart to see you happy and still having beautiful adventures with michael. <3 sharon
I do this as well, forming unnatural attachments to inanimate objects. There are so many memories, though, and sometimes those objects help to keep those memories sharp and warm. So I understand. And I feel your pain!
I loved this so much. I wear an ankle bracelet I made two years ago, and I never want to take it off, nor do I plan to take it off any time soon. I feel like my memories are embedded in it, somehow. As if the ocean in San Diego is still apart of it, as well as the dust and sand from the Grand Canyon. I wore it during all the greatest times I've had in my young life so far, and to take it off seems wrong.
Where did you get this red handbag of yours?
bye bye bracelet!
I think thats the first picture you have posted of the day Elodie was born!
I hope you post more someday and your story. I'll be sure to wear waterproof mascara the day you write that post. I am such a cry baby now.
Hope u have made another bracelet.. I think u should make one for each of you...
Wow! I can't believe that little bracelet lasted so long and saw so much. Sorry it's broken. You and Elodie could make new ones together when she's older!
Things come and go, but the good part is that you'll always have the memories. But that certainly was a wonderful trip down memory lane with your little bracelet.
Last fall, a friend sent me your summer adventure video and I immediately fell in love with its beauty, sweetness and spontaneity. I've watched it often (it always makes me smile), and passed it on to many people who were just as inspired by your talent and smitten with the loveliness of your adventures. I accidentally stumbled across your blog this morning, and realized you were the maker of that beautiful stop-motion video. I just wanted to say thanks, for putting such magic forth into the universe! I hope it always comes back to you in one way or another :)
You could sew it up into a lump and make a keychain out of it! :)
Love this post!
When my sister and I were little and there was a sudden storm, we'd hurry indoors and sit and watch out the window, if we had left anything behind outside-say like a sock? We would be so upset for it that we would risk getting soaked through and told off JUST so we could bring it inside so it would be warm with the rest of it's sock buddies! lol.
We're still a bit like that now...we look out for our things! In fact, my daughter has picked up the habbit. She walks around with random bits of paper in her little handbag :)
This post made me teary eyed. I read it with my daughter Annalee (8 years old). She kept asking me as I read the post out loud, "Well, does she still have the bracelet?" When we reached the end of the post and we saw the sweet, thread bare- rich with love, life and adventure- bracelet she still wanted to know if you kept it because something that special she would have held onto forever :-) We loved the video and Annalee even had a little tear (of happiness) in her eye when she saw the ultrasound video of Elodie (remembering the ultrasound pictures from two summers ago of her own baby sister) and she put it all together in her head that the greatest adventure to come was your baby. Thank you for sharing your words, your pictures- they have touched us in a special way.
Aw! what a cute, and lovely post! I do the same thing hehe :)
As you described so eloquently in your post... it's not necessarily the item itself, it's the adventures the item has been on. Make a new bracelet, and then document where it goes. And when it breaks, place it with this bracelet inside of a box that Elodie can enjoy.
I've been following your blog for over a year now, but I haven't ever commented before. Your family is absolutely lovely. This was one of my all-time favorite posts! I love the video you made! What was the music that you used?
Hi Aura, this brought tears to my eyes. I too old certain items very close to my heart.
Your bracelet had a wonderful life! :)
I completely understand what you mean when you say you get attached to things! Don't get me wrong, I don't hoard per se, but I keep a lot of random things that I probably don't need because they mean something to me. For instance, when I was in the 5th grade, at a restaurant, my friend and I got coconut ice cream for desert, and it came in a coconut shell. I still have the shell sitting in my room, because the 2 of us wrote "Best Friends Forever" on the inside of them.
Lovely post, and beautiful photos, as always!
<3 Kiersten
I really loved this post! I'd love to travel like this but that's kind of hard to do with a baby. Your poor bracelet! It's been through a lot. I probably would still keep it just to have it as a keepsake I guess lol.
Oh Jazmyn♥
I love this post because I am the exact same way. My sisters and I have saved all kinds of odd things, especially from our childhood home...just so we can remember
such a beautiful post. You really have a way with words and describing how even the littlest things can have the greatest meaning.
What an amazing post that I can relate too! Four years ago, I moved to a new city. At the very first party I was invited to, a brand new friend took off a bracelet he made and put it on my wrist. It remained there for three years--- through many wonderful memories (friends, road trips, pregnancy) and not so many great ones (abusive relationship). My bracelet fell off one day and I never was able to find it. =[
Thanks for your post; it made me think about all those great times again!
such a cute story!
oh my gosh, the story of a bracelet and i read it like it was the birth story of my first born. Now I love that tattered bit of fabric too, and im sad to say goodbye. Thats the nature of the way you write, i have no choice but to love what you love.
lucky you love good stuff.
xo em
What a sweet post! I can completely relate to your attachment to such things. I have a ring that I've worn for the past three years that is the most important object to me of all the ones I own... If I ever lost or broke it, I would be similarly nostalgic about all it has seen in its lifetime with me. Thanks for sharing this nice little retrospective!
Aw, this is such a cute post. The bracelet was so pretty and obviously a great comfort to you :)
Thanks for sharing :) made me smile!
-Carly
www.createliveblog.com
Aura,
Can't help but notice Hunter Bear hasn't been mentioned and there have been no new photos of him since Elodie was born. I hope he is ok and still part of the family :) I have always loved the posts where you include him in your lives.
The journey of a girl and her bracelet. Wonderfully poetic sweet Aura. Hope you're well x
Aura
I've been reading your blog daily for a while now, and I admire and love every single post! It's a part of my morning ritual. So random, I know, but I would love to know your makeup staples, especially foundation, as your skin is so, so, so gorgeous!! Thanks!
Sigh.
I love your photo essays.
You have such a way.
I love having something sentimental like that. You should frame it! I just love your memories and that video is STUNNING!
Hi Aura,
I recently discovered you (via Dear Baby), and have just finished reading from the beginning. Thank you for this blog. It feels kind of silly and dramatic to say that, but I've been going through a dark time this past year, and your posts renew my hope and help remind me of all the good there is still in people and in life.
My own journaling has become so weighted down by negativity in an attempt to purge those feelings, and I've found it more cheering, more wholly therapeutic to celebrate the small joys around me instead of feeding bad emotions, digging the rut deeper. You've inspired me to think and live more positively, and are someone I genuinely admire and wish I knew and called friend in real life.
Please continue to share your stories for a long time: they're better than Prozac.
I just found your blog via Pinterest, and I have spent the last two hours reading about your old
Posts. Your daughter is beautiful and you are a wonderful Mommy! Your pictures are amazing, your stories are heart warming.
Thank you Aura for another beautiful glimpse into your life, and the little things that make it special...
:( despite the sad face, I Loved this.
I love this post. Such wonderful memories with such a small, but yet important keepsake. I totally get that. It is strange how one glance of something can take you to so many different wonderful places.
lovely post, just yesterday something i had for twenty years was broken, i tried not to cry but i did. memories rolled in of all the times we had it, travelled with it, used it, my husband who was out of town calmed me down, we have the memories, i will fix it and put it away when i get back nadia he said.
i was calmed.
I want one of those so bad. :)
Make some to sell on Etsy? Please?
Sometimes, it IS the things that travel with us over the years that become our friends. A bracelet, worn so closely, carries a lot of memories. Do you have a keepsake box that it will live in from now on?
What a fun post and super cute bracelet! Do you mind sharing what program you use to make your photo video?
p.s. when you first posted this video i immediately went to itunes and looked up the Givers... we've been listening to them on a mixed cd in my car ever since!
It is tough to let go of objects that take us back to experiences....the objects that experienced the events with us can hold so much meaning ;). Thanks for sharing!
Love this!! xoxo. It's been a while since I have checked in.
the video was soo beautiful!
This post is BEYOND amazing. Wow!! The way you put it together is so creative.
p.s. thank you for your response on my blog. much appreciated :)
love love love love love
What an awesome bracelet! I too have that problem, holding on to everything because it means "something." But doesn't everything?
Wow. This post is so beautiful. I just stumbled across your blog and what a lovely first post to read!
Aura, I love following your blog--- your photography, words, and the way you live life are truly an inspiration. I know that's nothing you haven't already heard from numerous others, but felt the need to say it anyway... ;o)
I know you mentioned this many posts ago, but who is the artist of the song you use in your amazing Summer Adventures video? I believe the song title is "I Saw You First" but iTunes continues to fail me, and a Google search only results in John Cougar Mellencamp. :o/ Would love to add the song to my music library---hope you don't mind sharing (once again).
Your daughter is a gem---kudos to you and your husband for making such a perfect little human being! It's so wonderful to see the beautiful bond you share with her, wearing her while gardening and photographing her while relaxing on the hammock. Sheer bliss. I hope everyday is beautiful and memorable for you and little miss Elodie. <3
Sincerely,
Ashley--Massachusetts
I love that someone else is as sentimental as I am. My current constant is a little leather bracelet that was made for me in Italy. It is simple, no frills, and a deep magenta color, but its perfect and always with me.
Will you be making another?
It's funny how sometimes the smallest things serve us the biggest memories and pleasures in life. Absolutely beautiful!
Wow. What a beautiful blog, wonderful post, inspiring video. Thank you for making me smile today!
So sweet and so true. This is probably why I cling to many holy tshirts and items of clothing. What a great thing to remember, realize and write about. Thank you for sharing Aura. This bracelet has seen so much, maybe it's time to make a new one :)
Hi Aura,
I found your blog attached to one of my good friends, and I have to say, I am a little addicted to it. I hope that doesn't sound creepy at all, but I love to read it while I'm at work. I work in a call center for insurance so it's not the happiest, but over the past week or so that I have been reading your blog (from start to finish) it has given me some bright moments between the phone calls, so thank you for that.
I laughed when you wrote in one of your posts that you were having a quarter life crises, I am 25 and my best friend and I joke about that all the time. I have recently gone through a lot of change that has brought to me that point that you often talk about, of trying to figure things out and discover who I actually am. I recently made a decision to pay closer attention to my health, and your posts about food and activity have given my tons of inspiration to kick that into full gear.
I live in Seattle so the weather is somewhat Colorado-ish and from your pictures I am dying to go there now! I always heard it was nice, but it was different to see it in your photos. I am really close with my sister and she and her boyfriend have wanted to move there for a while, we are entertaining the idea of us moving there together in a couple of years.
Oh and I have to mention I think you and I are music twins! I love all of the same music that you do, your playlists are just like mine! And thanks for rekindling my love of Brett Dennen, it had been a bit since I have listened to him and it puts me in such a good mood. I too have a very emotional connection with the music that I listen to, so hearing someone else talk about that makes me feel a little less weird! I fell in love with Jack Johnson like 7 years ago when I was on a camping trip in Orcas Island, so it always reminds me of the beach and makes me feel so warm and happy. So hearing him on your blog here and there has been great!
I admire your family life very much. I recently have had to make some tough decisions about my family that involve us not being as close (with the exception of my sister), and your family and the closeness that you share is a great example of what I would someday like for mine. And congratulations on the new life in your family, she is beautiful
Sorry for the novel here, your blog has just made me think a lot about my life, and I wanted to let you know (even though I am one of thousands!). I have to thank you for putting your life out there for people to see, that is very brave. I only read one blog, so I feel blessed to have stumbled upon yours. Again I hope it does not seem weird to say, as I do not know you in person, but you have given me a lot to think about, and the courage and drive to make a lot of very positive changes for myself. I feel like I found your blog at the exact perfect moment, and it helped me find a lot of what I was looking for. So again, thank you Aura.
Hailey
Hello Mrs. Aura! I have been following your blog for the past couple of months, it's amazing! I have always prided myself as being a "hardass, take life as I see it" kind of Detroiter. I am as "hard" as it gets for a chick. lol But tonight, I looked in my backyard....and seen a flicker of firefly and thought about your blog and how you see each day as beautiful and how the most simplest things are amazing. Then....I spent the next 15 minutes returning to that place I was when I was 12 yrs old as a girl.......catching firefly's and giggling. Thank you.
Is it silly that this moved me in a huge way? Maybe it's because I form attachments like this as well. Maybe it's the sentiment behind it all.
Whatever it is.
I think my heart just doubled in size and filled up with raw emotion.
I hope you hang on to that bracelet forever..
I used one of your pictures:
http://regenbogen-land.blogspot.com/
If you do not want me to use it on my blog, I am going to delete it!
I love your pictures and your texts. they are amazing and make me feel happier with my life :)
Best wishes,
Steffi
I love all of your pictures! you capture such amazing a beautiful moments. As much as I like the pictures I must say i love to read what you have written. I don't know if you've gone to school to be a writer or anything but they way you write and express feelings or thoughts really captures my interest. Just thought I'd let you know that there is a stay at home mom out there in this world that really enjoys your blog.
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