Blue Bangle Project (ongoing mail art project)

In August of 1994, I hit a very low point in my life: unemployment, no car, no success in art or writing, and two crumbling friendships.

I survived. One friendship did, too, but the other faded (probably to our mutual benefit). I got a scut job for a year and a half, then a much better one, and slowly crawled back up the ladder. I discovered the internet, and that opened my life in profound ways.

 

Blue bangle for blogThis blue cloisonne enamel bangle is left over from that time, from the day before my life went down the crapper that August. I found the bangle in a thrift store for $.99, while out shopping and storytelling with my soon-to-be-lost friend. I’ve always loved decent enamel: in this piece, the tight cloisons and the double palettes in the enamel flowers are hallmarks of good work. I was a sucker for the rich blue background, too, since I was already deep into worldbuilding Lonhra with its ultramarine blue night skies.

There is nothing physically wrong with this poor little bracelet, but for two decades it has been a reminder of lost time and opportunities.

Twenty years later, I’m both as vulnerable as I was then, and somehow more armored. I’ve done some cool shit over the years since. I’ve found great new friends, and renewed respect for the old ones. I have more skills and more confidence in myself.

So I’m letting go of the bracelet. Next week it’s on its way to a fellow romance writer in Florida, who will wear it and love it for a while, then she’ll send it along to someone else. Maybe, in a few years, whoever has it will think of it with joy and hope, instead of wistful memories. Maybe it will get traded to mark happy occasions. I’m a skeptic, so I don’t think of objects containing or channeling ‘luck’. But perhaps this piece will help people become more aware of opportunities and situations that can become their own good luck.

As the blue bangle gets sent around the world, I hope to post pictures of the places and people it will visit. The damn Lawn Gnome and the Traveling Pants had better move over.

blue bangle beachgirl

Stop One: somewhere in Florida, erotic romance author Scarlet Day shows off the blue bangle after a triumph of her own. We’re off to a good start!

Update: maybe not. I’m always inclined to support the scientific method first (Correlation does not imply causation), but I’m wondering if the bangle is some kind of accidental Artifact a la ‘Warehouse 13’. Scarlet wore it on vacation, and incurred some injuries at a resort – leading to EMT threats of cutting away the bangle from her hand. She prevailed and used icepacks and gentle pressure. But still…

Stop Two: A.G. Carpenter then got it, and on the same day had to deal with medical insurance, hassles, the landlord from Purgatory, and a heartbreaking pet emergency. Here’s the bangle with her.

Blue Bangle AG

At this point, our writing group is considering a scientifically-arranged control group to test the luck theorem, or possibly an expedition to the nearest active volcano.

 

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