I’ve been wearing the same jewelry every day. I know why: it’s a way to create normalcy—yes, so much in my world has changed, but these items I carry on my body are the same. 

Some of them are also new though. 

This ring, for instance: I bought it in Santa Fe this March.

It was created by a Zuni artist (the shopkeeper didn’t share the artist’s name), and I was immediately drawn to it. 

It looks a lot like the swirls I used to doodle in my notebooks, ever since I was a child. Still do, in fact (see pic of a drawing I did while coloring with my goddaughter). And it makes me happy somehow to know that two people, who have never met each other, who grew up in completely different places with completely different backgrounds, could be making the same swirls. 

You can make meaning out of anything, sweet ones. 

So, this ring to me means, wandering. It means making connections with strangers, whether I meet them or not. 

You may have heard: “all those who wander aren’t lost.”

When I see this ring on my hand, I think: 

“Sometimes, wandering isn’t about being lost or found. Sometimes, wandering is all about the beauty of the curve.”

Originally posted 6/13/21.