BarBABYdos: On Sea Glass and Struggles

As I have read and researched BarBABYdos for our trip, one of the things that has stood out to me as the most special is the sea glass.

From Sea Glass Journal

Shells - probably the most popular beach collectible - are empty, abandoned critter homes, which is a neat thing to think about.  I have read, however, that pieces of sea glass are far more plentiful on Barbados's beautiful white beaches than shells are.

From Caribbean News Network

I've been a fan of sea glass for a while, because I like the metaphor.  Glass items have been thrown into the ocean, broken into shards, then been pounded by sand and surf for decades until they are smooth, frosted, beautiful, and valuable.  I love that we are continuing our journey - which many, many times has felt like being broken, tossed about, and roughed up - in a place where these collaborations between man and nature are so numerous.  I like to imagine we will come out on the other side with a testimony like sea glass: more beautiful and valuable than it would have been without our being broken and surf-tumbled. 

From Sea Glass Journal

I hope to be able to spend some time searching for these beautiful metaphors while we are in Barbados for IVF, and have been pinning and planning some fun little souvenirs to create for us and for some of our support network.  Here are some that I especially love :-)

Pinterest has blocked the link to the source. :-(  But, we collect magnets from everywhere we go, and a little picture of a Barbadian beach, with some white sand and tiny beach treasures would look spiffy in our collection!

From Stone Street Studio on Etsy.  Sold, but her shop is COOL!  I'm thinking of using a knock-off Origami Owl locket, since it would be much less expensive (but smaller) than a vintage pocket watch.

From JustBeachyNow on Etsy.  I'm borderline obsessed with putting stuff in these empty ornaments, so I am definitely going to put some sand and beach treasures on our tree this year!