Posted: by Jo Tuesday, 27 October 2020 @ 07:54
We recently created a Disc Necklace using the ancient Yin-Yang symbol, to represent the mantra, ‘I create balance in my life’.
We really felt a message around balance was needed in our collection – especially now.
The Coronavirus crisis has made many of us feel the desire to re-address the balance of our lives, to ensure we are prioritising the right things. It can be easy to let life get out of balance, as opposing forces pull us in seemingly different directions.
For me personally, I felt that I was spending too much time in the office – sometimes, through habit rather than necessity. Now, I take a bit more time in the morning before I head into the office, and I make sure I leave on time at the end of the day. Just these small changes have given me so much more time each day, for exercise, reading, and household admin – making my life feel so much calmer.
So, this mantra encourages you to look at your life, to see if there is anything you can change to have a better balance. It reminds you of your intention to create more balance, as well as celebrating your success in doing so.
We decided to use the Yin Yang symbolism to represent balance, as it is a beautiful means of showing a life lived in balance, managing the competing demands on our time, attention and emotions. The symbol represents the fluidity and connectedness of life, as well as the need for balance, as neither side is ever out of balance. The philosophy is at least 3,500 years old, discussed in the I Ching, and influences the philosophies of Taoism and Confucianism.
Yin Yang is represented by a circle divided into two halves, with the black half representing yin; the white half, yang. The white dot in the black area, and the black dot in the white area, show that each side has at its heart an element of the other, and the wavy line shows that there are no absolute separations in life.
We drew up a few different designs of yin and yang, before we finalised the piece – wanting a pattern that was ornate and beautiful, but not too complex.
Because all our jewellery is cast in Sterling Silver from a wax mould, our carvers in Thailand need to be able to recreate the pattern perfectly in the wax. And, because our disc pendants are just 1.5 cm in diameter - to keep them at a size that you can wear every day - we also needed to make sure the pattern wasn’t too detailed to be properly seen.
The final pattern we arrived at captures the mystery and elegance of oriental design, but with a simplicity which works perfectly on our bestselling disc pendant.
Choose the Balance mantra if you want to remind yourself to strive for more balance in your life, or if you celebrating achieving more balance already.