Repairing my broken mermaid tail--and my confidence

Have you ever lost your confidence and your inspiration all at once? I have. But a mermaid helped me find my way again.

I draw strength and inspiration from being near the water, so it's only natural that I'd be inspired by mermaids. Some people insist mermaids are mythical creatures, but I've met mermaids and have photographic evidence to prove it. 

When my cousin, Donette and I brought the Whidbey Island Mermaid an offering of our leftover pizza, she kissed my forehead (the mermaid, not my cousin). 

The Whidbey Island Mermaid kissing my forehead

Once I met the Whidbey Island Sirens Pod, who invited me to sit a spell with them. They even entrusted me to hold their treasure chest brimming with jewels. 

Me hanging out with mermaids

My admiration of mermaids began 14 years ago when I was starting over after my divorce. A friend gifted me a confidant, cheeky mermaid that hangs from a beaded wire. Written on her fin is this favorite Oscar Wilde quote:

Be yourself.

Everyone else is already taken.

 

My cheeky mermaid 

In those early days of standing on my own again, I needed those words. Often. 

In my first apartment post-divorce, I hung the mermaid in a prominent place as a reminder to be my authentic self. Over the years, the mermaid and I moved many times: from that first tiny apartment to the World War II era duplex to Wisteria Cottage (with no running water, heat or bathroom!) to a lovely mother-in-law suite in the home of friends, to a fifth-wheel RV on a ranch in wild Eastern Oregon and back to my friends' suite.

Somewhere along the way, the mermaid's tail fell off. And then the beaded wire hanger fell off, too. I tucked her safely into a zippered bag and planned to repair her--one day. Instead, I forgot about my confidant, cheeky mermaid. 

Sometimes in the darkest moments, without the cheeky mermaid to cheer me on, I lost my confidence. I forgot how to be my authentic self.

Recently, I moved again when I bought my own home. As I unpacked box after box, I found my treasured mermaid. She was broken. Disheveled. Her confidence and cheekiness had waned considerably. I vowed I would reattach her tail and her hanger so that she can again be her confident, cheeky self. 

First, I tried reattaching her tail with jeweler's wire, but it fell off. I reattached it again. Same result. And again. The third time was not the charm. Sometimes when I have a vision of creating something or fixing something, it doesn't go as smoothly as I had envisioned. Can you relate?

So I moved on to Plan B: Use a rubber band AND jeweler's wire to reattach her tail. I grabbed my little jar of doo-dads. (Do you have one of these, too?) Inside the jar I save plastic closures for bread bags and wire twistees. Around the outside of the jar I wrap rubber bands I salvage. I found the perfect rubber band.

My jar of doo-dads

It worked! Within a few minutes, I had repaired the mermaid and hung her in my bathroom window. 

From now on, every morning as I am getting ready for the day, my cheeky mermaid will encourage me to be my authentic self. And her confidence and cheekiness is sure to inspire me to dig deep and find my own.

With my mermaid encouraging me every morning to "be myself," how can I fail?

My cheeky, encouraging mermaid hanging in my bathroom window