"a hui hou" – until we meet again

“a hui hou” – until we meet again

Finding a piece of seaglass on the beach is always like finding a great treasure.  But sometimes it ends up being more trash than treasure, more of a piece of broken glass than a piece of seaglass. What to do? Everyone has their own gauge for whether to keep a piece of seaglass or throw it back into the sea.  My usual basis is that a piece of glass has to be total smoothed and frosted – jewelry grade, as it is sometimes called.  That being said, my scale seems to change with size and shape.  I may keep a very large piece or unusual shape that I would never use for jewelry even if it is not totally ‘done’.  A whole wine bottle bottom or a Coke bottleneck is always a keeper. Those pieces live in a large glass bowl on my kitchen table and always spark conversations. 

This is my bowl of sea glass that’s too big for jewelry and might not be totally ‘done’.
Photo ©Janet Payne

Throwing seaglass, that’s not ‘done’, back in the ocean started as a game. Walking the beach with my young children, I would tell them, “throw one piece back and you will find two more…. or make a wish just as the piece of seaglass lands in the water.” As my children grew older, it became a way of teaching the importance of gratitude, of giving thanks, being grateful for something or someone in your life with each piece you throw back.  It’s also a reminder to give back and not be greedy. Giving a piece of rough seaglass back to the ocean allows it to be transformed into a beautiful treasure to be cast upon the beach another day, in another place, for another person to experience the joy of finding.

This is jewelry grade seaglass.
Photo ©Janet Payne

At some point children need to be off on their own to metamorphosis into the beautiful people you know as a parent is inside of them all along. When you look at a piece of glass, a shard of glass, rough, sharp and dangerous, it is sometimes hard to imagine what it will become.  Just like our children, they need time to be tumbled by life, to be rolled in the sea of experiences to become the treasures they are deep down inside.  In the process they soften their edges and smooth out the rough spots as they become young adults.  Just as everyone needs a little help on their journey, by throwing seaglass that is not ‘done’ back into the ocean I feel I am just helping it along on its journey to become the treasures they are destined to be, the treasures that are hidden within each of us. 

Two pieces of red seaglass. The one on the right is jewelry grade and a keeper. The one on the left is not jewelry grade, but is it a keeper or should it be thrown back in?
Photo ©Janet Payne

As I continued to walk on the beach alone, I would sometimes wait until I had two pieces to throw back, grateful for my two daughters, sometimes four pieces, one for each of my siblings.  Finally it became a way of letting go.  A metaphor for all the people and things we let go of in our lives, with thanks and dreams that they will come back to us more polished, more finished, just when the time is right for us to see and accept their true beauty. 

Be confident that there will always be more treasures coming into your life when the time is right.  There will always be more seaglass on the beach to be found another day. Throwing seaglass back in the ocean is best done with the Hawaiian feeling of  “a hui hou” - until we meet again.