The object I have chosen to describe is my mother’s yin and yang pendant. This pendant was gifted to me when I was just thirteen and I have kept it safe and close all these years.

From an outside perspective, this pendant is no more than meets the eye. Having a circumference of just a little over 3.5 cm, it has a very large presence and makes a statement when worn. A petite neck like mine is not suited for such a large piece adorning my chest. My Mother, on the other hand, can adorn this necklace as if it was made for her, and maybe that is one of the reasons I adore it so much. The pendant has a beveled outer circle inlaid with an abstract pattern consisting of dots and lines. This texture can be felt with your fingertips if grazed slightly over feeling the ridges and dips of the metal. This base structure that the yin yang is placed on is a type of copper or nickel that at one point and time was silver plated. As the years have passed by, so has the once shiny and finished appearance of the pendant leaving it now with a worn and heavily loved appearance.

The yin and yang symbol itself sits a mere .75 cm from the base giving it the appearance of coming out of or towards the intended wearer. The symbol itself is made from Bakelite, a type of synthetic resin that was first used in the 1900s. Despite Bakelite’s advantages of being more durable than other synthetic plastics, the pendant has a chip or two showing great wear and tear on the upper left section of the black teardrop shape. This symbol is from Japanese culture and is an ancient symbol of harmony and balance in the natural world. This idea of balance and the natural ebb and flow in life is an idea that my mother whole heartily believes in and has passed those beliefs down to me.

The origins of this object are pretty much unknown to my mother for she acquired it at a flea market when she was just a teen. The quality of this object and the materials reflect the cheap and often stereotypical flea market qualities we all know, maybe some a little too well. However, this object despite its little to no material value has been with my mom through the fires and back, quite literally. My mother in her early twenty’s, a volunteer firefighter at the time, was battling one relentless and unforgiving fire. Amid everything the dainty delicate chain that once belonged to this pendant, broke in two, releasing the pendant from around her neck. When the flames were snuffed, my mother noticed quickly that her beloved pendant was gone. Later that day when she was taking off her steel-toed boots, on the bottom of her shoe, or the soul of her shoe rather, lied the pendant. The pendant survived the raging fires and as she tells it, helped keep her safe in one of the worst fires she had ever encountered.

With that being said this pendant has come to be a great token of good luck for both my mother and I.