WHY DO WE ADORN OURSELVES?

Have you ever wondered why we adorn ourselves? You probably hadn't realized that on planet Earth, we are curiously the only beings who adorn ourselves: tattoos, makeup, fabrics, feathers, bones, stones and of course jewelry, the finest and most exquisite creations that man has made in his search for a certain image.

Perhaps we are not satisfied enough with our natural appearance since we have been adorning ourselves since the beginning of humanity and of course we will continue to do so until the end of human existence.

Strictly speaking, we do not need to adorn ourselves to survive. Perhaps when we appeared on this planet, some kind of camouflage was necessary, especially for hunting, but that is not what I am referring to. I am talking about superfluous adornment, that which was made on purpose, for example, with the bones of animals hunted during the day or a necklace with an exquisite pearl found after many days in the depths of the ocean.

And you're probably thinking that we could live without a necklace or a brooch, and you're absolutely right. However, adornment, and jewelry as a fundamental part of it, is a way of expressing our being, our soul. It is a reflection of who we are and is connected to our way of perceiving the world and emotionally links us to places and events through something tangible.

That is why it is so powerful and significant, it conveys a message. And since we have a physical body, we use it for this in many and varied ways. No other being in nature adorns itself at will.

Adorning ourselves is the conjunction of the material and its meaning, a mixture that we find perfectly reflected in a piece of jewelry. We need to believe, that is why we hang crosses on ourselves. We need to remember, that is why we wear a locket close to our heart.

We need to dream, that's why a bride chooses a tiara for her wedding day. Every emotion, every wish is captured in a jewel.

I am increasingly convinced that we adorn ourselves to satisfy our soul and that the adornments we wear are not necessary for our animal survival but they are for our spiritual survival.