The Power of Pearls

A woman who walks into a room wearing a little black dress, heels and pearls exudes both confidence and class. In the South, we are raised to know the power of a strand of pearls and the woman wearing them; it is almost an instant level of respect.

I recently found the following quote by Janet Fitch while reading White Oleander that made me truly ponder the power of pearls.

"The pearls weren't really white, they were a warm oyster beige, with little knots in between so if they broke, you only lost one. I wished my life could be like that, knotted up so that even if something broke, the whole thing wouldn't come apart."

What a gut check. Is a strand of pearls more powerful than I have been raised to think? Do pearls represent something more than just confidence and class?

The strength of a real pearl necklace, properly knotted with pearls of true color, is a flawless juxtaposition of perfection and imperfection;
much like my life, some parts are the pearls and other parts are the knots.

So much of my life I feel like I could have come apart at any given time, but something held me together; something kept all of the pearls from coming undone, falling to the floor, and scattering all over the place...

I see the warm oyster beige imperfections and problems when I look at each pearl.

I see my saving graces in each and every knot that held and continues to hold me together.

How do you hold yourself together when you feel like life is falling apart? Put together your invisible string of pearls. Merge your imperfections with tightly knitted saving graces and hold your chin up high, and exude nothing but confidence and class.

After all...