Some things just need a second life
I've started to notice something.
Just like people, not everything that appears to be 'finished' actually is. 'Past its prime' is a phrase from a past era.
Some things aren't always done. Sometimes they've just been... set aside.
When one person is finished with something, it doesn't make it no longer useful. We live in a disposable society where things are too easily dismissed. By someone else, by another version of us. By a life that moved too fast to keep noticing.
I love a flea market or a thrift shop. Finding objects others are done with that I see as merely the starting point of a new purpose or passion.
I had a tattoo session that was then canceled due to sickness, so I decided to check out the local flea market. In the depths of a rack, I spotted it. I'm a magpie drawn to shiny objects.
Gold. Great condition. A bit forgotten. $30.
It had clearly had a life already. An event. A moment. Maybe even a version of someone who felt incredible wearing it. And now? Now it was waiting.
The market was busy. Lots of people had walked past it. Not for them.
But I couldn't walk past it. I could see it. I could see it could be for me.
Not like it is - but what it could become.
It was an instinct that said:
- There's more here.
- This isn't finished.
- This has a future.
Maybe it's a metaphor for myself. Not starting from scratch. Not trying to go back to the past. But holding onto pieces of myself that are ready for ... reimagining.
In school I majored in Fine Art, Art History, Graphic Art... then I worked in corporate for three decades. My creativity took a back seat.
Now it's coming back. As a pull. A curiosity. The moments are building and suddenly something ordinary feels full of possibility.
I'm learning to trust my creativity again. Not to rush it. Not to overthink it. Just follow where it leads me. To let go.
Because some things don't need replacing. They just need a second life.
On my own terms.
- Pauline
Founder, SilverWings
