The Simple Joy of "Finding Things"

People sometimes ask exactly how I got involved with finding little pieces of glass on the beach. After all, even though sea glass has become quite popular and well-known in recent years, it's still a somewhat "esoteric" pastime, compared to things like collecting sea shells or rocks.

I got to thinking about this question in some depth and reflected on the words I wrote in my June 1st update about my childhood and the long days of summer. Then I came to the conclusion that I have enjoyed "finding things" since I was quite small. Not just sea glass. And it seems to be one of those things in life for which which I evidently have a "natural talent" of sorts.

Although my interest in sea glass dates to my childhood, there were many other things I spent time "finding," when I was young-- and I still do.

Chanterelle mushrooms

During the summers of my childhood in Denmark, we'd often go spend the weekend at my aunt's house in the country. And one of the favorite outings (from late July and onwards) would be going to a nearby forest to find chanterelle mushrooms. For a five-year old, I evidently had a remarkable capacity to not only stay focused for several hours, but to actually find these golden treasures on the forest floor. It often mystified the adults who'd been collecting for 50 years, who would find fewer mushrooms than I.

One of my other hobbies-- which eventually turned into my "day job"-- is collecting stamps. Again... especially if you're trying to make money at it... this is a pastime that revolves around finding something. In the case of stamps, finding something other people may have overlooked.

I'm also really good at finding treasures at flea markets, finding lost keys, and even finding places in cities when other people are lost.

Unlike many sea glass enthusiasts-- who collect sea glass in order to use it in some way, or display it in some fashion-- I really don't inherently possess much talent in the realm of "creativity." Sure, I could probably "make something" with the sea glass I find, but odds are I'd need someone else's design to look at and "copy," in order to produce anything worthwhile. Whereas I really enjoy the aesthetics of creativity, I have approximately zero ability to visualize something original in my head, "out of thin air."

And so, I find sea glass for the simple joy of finding.

Which led me to the answer to something else people often ask me: "I just don't understand how you can not KEEP all your beautiful sea glass!?!?!" Truthfully? Once I've found it, held it and enjoyed that process-- along with the zen-like "meditation" that a 6-hour walk along the beach represents for me-- I have very little attachment to "owning" the glass. With very few exceptions, one piece of cobalt blue sea glass is pretty much like any other.

In fact, it actually fills me with more happiness to know that someone artistic is finding joy in creating something beautiful with my glass, rather than just having it sit in glass jars (pretty, I do admit!) collecting dust on my windowsill.

That said, I do have a fairly large personal collection of seaglass, assembled over the past 40+ years. And I still do add to that collection. But, on average, I probably "save" two pieces for every hundred I find-- which means there is quite a lot I end up selling on eBay and Etsy.

The Long Days of Summer

What I have always liked about summer is the long days.

These days I live in a part of the world that has widely swinging tides, so now I don't just enjoy the long days, but I enjoy the fact that summer allows me to go to the beach pretty much any day I feel like it. June is a "beach friendly" month because the low tide points usually occur sometime during daylight hours, rather than in the middle of the night, as they do in January.

It makes me realize that I am more of a "spontaneous" beach comber than a "planned" one. Back in December, I would look at the tide charts and know that I only had a few short "windows of opportunity" on a few days out of the month... and my choice was "go then, or don't go at all."

Now that it is June, I could technically speaking go every day. Alas, my "old bones" wouldn't stand up to that... even if my heart and soul was in it.

When it comes to sea glass, May and June tend to be my months to "stock up for winter," a bit like a squirrel. Since I do sell some sea glass-- and many artists have their "big season" over the Christmas holidays-- I have to put a good part of the glass I find now "away," so I have something to offer, come November.

When I was a kid, I had the perseverance to walk on the beach and "focus" for many hours at a time... unlike many of my friends who would "grow bored" after ten minutes. Looking for sea glass, shells, interesting rocks, feathers and other things has been a lifelong interest of mine. If there is one I thing that has remained constant in my 50-odd years of life, it is a passion for "finding things." It's not a passion that's limited to the beach, however, as I look for everything from lost keys to four-leaf clovers to mushrooms in the forest to esoteric research items on the Internet. For my "day job" I sell rare old postage stamps to collectors. How do I come about them? I FIND them in large piles and boxes of unsorted common stamps.

The Aboriginal tribes in Australia believe that every single person in the world has at least ONE thing they are really good at. I was never much good at things like "football" or "building a career" or "public speaking." However, I AM really good at "finding things" and feel blessed that I have been able to craft a life that allows me to make a living (of sorts) from "finding" things.