The Secret Of Silver Jewelry

When we talk about precious metals we usually mean gold, platinum and another pure metal, fine silver. Silver is one of the original materials of value mentioned in the Bible, together with other originals such as precious gemstones that existed from the beginning of time.

This explains part of the attraction associated with these 'non-virtual' commodities - they existed for a very long time in human history, and presumably even before. Used throughout all generations and nations they have been and are one of the preferred ways to display symbols of value and are used as objects of beauty and style in jewelry. As a form of personal expression and 'street art'.

Thinking of fashion styles we tend to look at clothing, hair styling and makeup first. However accessories are a major part of the outfit. Jewelry one of its coolest forms.

Why then is silver jewelry one of the constants that remain throughout history? What is the real mystery and the secret of silver? It's not only its cool attraction -- it is one of the commodities that existed before paper money, and it will retain it's value after currencies are gone.

In a world that goes more virtual by the minute we keep a few valuables that have their own pre-set value outside our current reality. Currencies will go virtual, jewelry will not.

To give you an idea about the differences of investments in tangible and intangible products and how it works out in real life, let me give you an example that nearly did cost me $25.000 in the past.

During the first oil crisis I lived in New Zealand for a few years and had to invest my assets in appropriate channels at that time. Because back then not only oil prices went up, also other commodities such as gold and silver increased slightly in value and I decided to invest some money in metals.

After locating a company that advertised selling of gold bullion, I went to their downtown store and asked a clerk to purchase gold for about $25.000. I never did this kind of investment before and was a bit unsure about where to keep it save from curious people and for the possible event of burglars in the house.

Knowing what was on my mind the clerk asked me that memorable question "would you like to have this in gold options, stocks or physical bullion?" He went through great lengths to explain me the advantages of "gold papers" that follow the value of gold at any time, so increase in value if the gold price further increases. There would be no necessity to actually touch physical things, and I could cash in the papers at any time.

I almost agreed to his offer, when suddenly a small yet bright thought of warning flashed my mind. Something that a goldsmith I met before told me years earlier, he said: "If you ever buy gold, remember the reason why you buy it, and do not buy virtual gold, but the real thing only".

This thought won in the end because my adviser taught me many basic things about jewelry and metals, and I highly respected his opinion. Turned out he was right. Less than 6 months later, the company I bought the bullion from faced bankruptcy and all their options, shares and other papers lost all of their value. I still had my physical gold however, that increased in value by about 10% at that time.

With that example fresh in mind, I personally still make distinctions when I buy personal products that enhance my lifestyle today.

Yes I invest a lot in software for example that enhances my virtual PC desktop, and helps websites function the way they should, and also loose a lot of it every few years when a harddisk or server crashes. I also enjoy the latest designer clothes, however they wear out and generally get damaged by usage over time.

However I keep a small collection of silver and gold jewelry in the same fresh looking condition as I originally bought it many years ago. These items never wear out, never go out of style. And never loose their value. It's the real thing.


Just How Organized Are You? Take This Quiz For Individuals

The Productive Environment Scorecard™

Read the statements below and rate your reactions to each pair of phrases. Decide where you rate on the scale from 1 (You rate yourself low) to 10 (You rate yourself high).

1. I waste lots of time looking for papers I need.

2. I waste lots of time looking for electronic information I need.

3. I would be terrified if I were notified or an impending audit.

4. I do not have enough space in my office.

5. I do not have a good system for managing articles/resources.

6. I do not have a systematic method for purging outdated materials.

7. I have not identified what information (email, paper and electronic files) I should keep for historical purposes.

8. I do not use my time planner (calendar, Palm, etc.) effectively.

9. I do not have a system for managing work in progress.

10. I am often late completing my projects.

11. My office does not reflect the quality of service I provide.

12. My daily life does not reflect the quality of life I want to live.

ADD TOTALS

If you scored: 108-120 Congratulations! Let HPI know if you want a job! 61-107 You’re on the right track, but there’s room for improvement. 37-60 Disaster could be ahead if changes not made soon! 36 or less Get help immediately!

3. If you would like a free 30-minute consultation about your score, write your contact info below and fax to 919-773-0383.

NAME ________________________________________ PHONE _________________

E-MAIL ________________________________________________________________


How To Care For Your Floral Arrangements

The more you can learn about fresh cut flowers and their special care, the healthier your arrangements will be.

Lets start with vases & containers. Most people will grab a vase out of the cupboard and fill it with water and place the flowers in it. I would like to suggest that you rinse it first with hot water and get any dust out of it. Then put a few drops (and I do mean only drops) of bleach. This will keep out and kill any bacteria and it will not harm the flowers. When you buy flowers, most places will supply a packet of flower food. If you have no flower food, not to worry, you can always put a teaspoon of sugar in the water.

Now you are ready to prepare your flowers.

Take each stem and remove any leaves that may be below the water line. You do this so you don’t get microbial damage to your flowers. Leave as many leaves as possible above the water line as this is a design element. When you are dealing with roses, most people like to remove the thorns but I recommend that you leave as many thorns on as possible. This is because stripping them off causes wounds to the rose and allows possible microbial invasion causing your roses to die sooner than they need to.

You will want to cut about an inch off the bottom stems. Cut them at an angle with a sharp knife preferably under water. You do this so that the flowers drink water, not air. You can get air pockets in the stem preventing them from drinking which ensures early death.

There are some flowers that require special handling. Such is the case with freesia. This flower does not take well to chlorine so you’ll want to use distilled water. Tulips do better in a vase with a penny on the bottom. The petals stay closed a little longer. Note, tulips can still grow after they have been cut, as much as an inch per day! Hydrangea prefers being in a vase. This is because it needs to be hydrated. If you put them in floral foam, their life span will be much shorter. Note, if your hydrangea shows signs of wilting, you can revive them by turning them upside down in water for about an hour.

Some flowers last longer than others, such as carnations and daisies. They can last as long as 3 weeks. An arrangement with roses and lilies will not last as long, usually 4 to 7 days. Determine what you want the flowers for.


Abuse, Love and The Sanctity of the Soul

"I don't know why I let it go on as long as I did. I guess I just loved him/her."

How many times have we heard this coming from the cracked and bleeding lips (and soul) of a victim of abuse? How many times have we tried to find the words to help them through their grief and anger as they realize that their love was not enough to keep the whole house of cards from coming apart at the seams? One question always comes up, the hardest to answer: "How can I walk away when I love them so much? How can I just abandon them, go back on my vows and my promises?" We talk about loving yourself first and how love isn't supposed to punch and frighten and chill with steely glares and withering silence, but it rarely helps to heal the bitter and self-inflicted wound of perceived betrayal.

However, one aspect of love and spiritual teachings of love often goes unspoken and unheard, the aspect that teaches and compels us to love unconditionally the true divine nature of the other, perhaps more than we loves the present incarnation and weakness of that other, and that instructs us to seek to protect them from harm, loss and diminishment in any way possible. Yet this is an important facet to consider, a part of love and our understanding of love that can help us deal with both our love and our pain, that can enable us both to love our attacker, yet move away from their sphere of influence - without guilt, without remorse and without the desperate feeling that we're betraying our vows to stand by their side for better and worse, in sickness and health.

One of the core tenets of this teaching and understanding of love is that when we harm others, we harm ourselves far more. Violence, anger, spite, malice, denigration, exploitation - all of these blacken and shrivel the soul of the perpetrator in far greater measure than the physical damage done to the victim. In fact, many of the non-violent spiritual sects and religions take that stand precisely because of this, knowing that no matter how right their intent or how good the sought-after outcome, no amount of force or violence is ever safe to impose on others lest we break our own hands on the rod we picked up to strike our brother with. Akido, a variation of the martial arts, takes this to it's logical end by teaching only throws, holds and blocks, offering the student no skills that could be used to injure or attack, but only those needed to ward off attack until the aggressor is worn our or defeated by their own violence. This is one aspect of this approach to love that is rarely understood, yet is of singular importance - that by preventing our attacker from harming us, we are not only preventing harm to our own souls but are indeed safekeeping that of our attacker's as well.

And so we come to the meat of the issue. By allowing someone to abuse us, for whatever reason, we are doing them harm by allowing them to harm themselves through violence to us. Removing ourselves from their influence is not a betrayal, nor is it an abandonment - it is an act of supreme love, the prevention of harm to one that we hold dear to our heart. Just as we would not let a child repeatedly injure itself on a hot stove or a sharp implement, we should not allow our weakness and our silence to continue to present to our abuser the opportunity to do more and more harm to their own soul.

If we love them, we owe it to the true "them," the core spark of divine energy that is the soul, to remove ourselves until they have learned the self-restraint necessary to avoid harming us - and through us, themselves, just as we would protect any other loved one from self-injury and danger. By learning to love another so much that we are willing to walk into loss and loneliness to preserve their soul, we remove ourselves and them from the spiraling cycle of abuse that binds us both to our eventual, and mutual, destruction.