Amber

In 1999, I had the good fortune to have a contract teaching computer courses at the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.

While I was there I would pass the time on weekends browsing through the shops, often looking for mementos. When I travel I like to bring back unique items that remind me of each place. Venturing into a jewellery shop, I learned a valuable lesson about amber.

Amber is fossil tree resin. While it can be many colours, it is usually sort of a yellowish orange-brown. I found out that it could be rather expensive, too.

While I was looking at several necklaces, I noticed that there was a bug that had been stuck in one of them. The price was higher than one with clear amber. I asked the saleslady if a mistake had been made. Why should I pay for something with this imperfection? She laughed and quickly told me that it was this insect that had been trapped in the gooey resin that made it all the more valuable. She showed me more pieces containing other species. Each one told a story. The more creatures contained in the amber, the more valuable it was.

Sometimes I feel that my life is like amber. There are many things that have been “stuck” into my story through the years. Others may view them as imperfections. In fact, my amber has lots of things trapped inside. It shows a life well lived. Each speck reminds me of a lesson learned. My character has been built from the sum of all of them. I then realize just how valuable I am.