One of Oakley’s favorite things to do at the beach is collect colorful sea glass. He would, of course, prefer to find a pristine shark tooth, or a perfect sand dollar, but colorful sea glass still tops the list. He realizes that once upon a time, each piece was just part of a broken beer bottle or other kind of litter, but he loves it just the same. He loves discovering all the different shapes and colors of glass that the waves wash up on the shore. He’s fascinated by the way the rough sea gives the glass smooth edges. He’s amazed by how it transforms the jagged glass from dangerous trash, into something safe and beautiful. This year, he’s only gone looking one time though and these are the pieces he brought back.
They didn’t appear to be anything extraordinary or unique. 
In fact, they’ve been sitting in a baggie most of the week. But yesterday, he came into my room with his little baggie and sat down on the rug to play with his glass. He was organizing and reorganizing it into all kinds of different shapes. Like a little puzzle he’d created on his own. Each creation had it’s on unique design and he named them.
This one is our dog Walter, on his leash.
During that time he meticulously created 4-5 distinctly different designs and he took so much pleasure in the outcome of each. He found joy in creating something beautiful out of that broken glass. He was confident and proud of the work he’d done. It made me so proud too.
We spend a lot of time in our lives hunting for the most beautiful treasures.
We’re looking for the stunning shark tooth, or exactly the perfect shell, that hasn’t been crushed by the waves. But we’re so focused on finding that treasure, we overlook the broken pieces of sea glass. And we miss the opportunity to create something beautiful.
What if the real treasure isn’t the thing that looks so shiny and perfect on the outside?
What if it turns out that the real treasure is taking all the colorful experiences of your life, the ones you so easily overlook, and deciding to allow them to come together to make something beautiful?
We all have lives full of broken sea glass.
We’ve got baggies over here and baggies over there. And often, we try to hide them. We wish all that jagged broken glass, that was once the litter in our lives, would just go away. But the real beauty begins when we decide to let it get washed in the waves of time and experience. When we allow it to become a colorful piece of our bigger story. With an open heart and mind.
When you embrace the whole of your story, that jagged broken glass transforms from dangerous trash, into something safe and so beautiful.
Don’t keep hiding your sea glass.
We need your beautifully unique story.
to more love,
Crystal
P.S. We’re going to spend some time talking about our pieces of “sea glass” in safe in serious and hilarious ways at our Love, Sex, and Friendship GNO with Melissa Blair in two weeks. Join us!
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