I do not have a particular story to share in this blog. What I wish to cover is my “Anxiety and Depression” maintenance kit that I always have on me. It has been some time now since I discovered that worry beads can be an excellent distraction when I feel myself becoming anxious but also I find merely plying with them calms me before I build up to a level of anxiety.
My kit is not made up of the expensive pear sets but has evolved into what works well for me. I first started with a fear that my worry beads would fall apart from constant use so thought I must have a metal chain. As I experimented I have come up with a compromise where the standard cotton thread of most worry beads is ditched but instead of the harshness of metal I love the feel of leather. My next specification I thought I needed was more stones and more wood. Strangely that famous saying of “less is more” has shown to be true for me. Whilst sitting in an armchair of an evening it is nice to have 33 stones and a beautiful large hard wood pear the reality is I spend far more time doing other things and it is nice to use the same set of worry beads all the time. I have therefore gone for a 1Pear (mini) and it is only thread with 11 stones. This gives me a set that easily fits in my pocket but I do not feel I am missing out on the size! As to wood and stone selection you may also be surprised that I have gone for an Ash hard wood and Howlite stones (white with grey marbling). I have previously used the more exclusive woods but whilst drilling some pears was astonished how beautiful the grain was in the Ash. It was a bit too light to start with but a few coats of Danish oil has made the wood a lovely golden colour and only brought the grain out even more. The white stones were as much a surprise to me as you, being my choice for two reasons. The marbling is beautiful but the main reason is I keep putting them down and white stones are really easy to find.
My 1Pear (mini) I would say are my relaxing set and if I feel slightly anxious I will play with them then. I also have a 2Pears set made from Elm and leather. I started off with leather 2Pears as I wanted to test the longevity of the leather but after the initial period of breaking in the leather it is so tactile that it feels strange to use the silver chain. I have to admit when I do use a silver set of 2Pears they are brilliant for tricks. The leather however soft you get it does have an element of resistance but the silver just goes where it is told. The elm, as with the 1Pear (mini) was a surprise wood. A lovely grain but it is fascinating how when you turn the wood in sunlight there are speckles that glisten like glitter and the wood even changes colour. It looks like one of those pictures that changes when you turn them but it is fascinating in that nature has created this phenomenon. The 2Pears I use for a bit of fun but also if I am starting to get in trouble with my anxiety trying to get a trick to work requires plenty of concentration and it will normally distract me for long enough for the danger to pass.
Whilst I have tried to explain my choices the point I am trying to make is there are almost an infinite number of choices you can make for your worry beads so don’t just go with convention, think about what will appeal the most to you.
