Okay I wasn’t even sure ‘smelting’ is a real word. Every time I write it my spell check puts a bright red line underneath to remind me that it is not a word; course I was spelling it with an extra letter. In the Urban dictionary it has a million definitions many of which are very, well letʼs just say theyʼre very…..
But itʼs my word and so in my mind I can spell it anyway I want and I can define it any way I like. Just to be precise, I will spell it without the ʻhʼ. Even though I like it better that way.
Not to be confused with “smelt” as in: “He has the personality of a dead smelt”, to me smelting is one of those great words that rolls off the tongue like gargoyle and pergola.
Smelting – the act of melting down metal to make something new. To re- purpose something out of date but of value. Example: I smelted my wedding band and engagement ring. It was cathartic!
Three years ago when gold was at an all time high, I scoured my jewelry box, sock drawer, childhood memorabilia collection and sought out remnants of gold. The backs of old earrings, gold chains given by some eighth grade beau, something I think a great aunt left behind (although it turned out to be fake….shh donʼt tell Mom) and re-purposed all those lovely but out of date items into something new, something of value. It felt good.
It felt right because I was not discarding these bits and pieces of my past, I was reworking them. I was acknowledging their value, their memories and re-purposing them into a new memory.
So now, today Dec. 10, 2014 I am smelting yet again. But this time Iʼm not digging for gold in my attic trunk; Iʼm re-purposing myself!
Iʼm taking all that I have done the past 14 years and melting it together. A pinch of savvy here, a dash of humor there followed by at least a ton of perseverance, sweat, tears and failure.
Add to this some luck, gumption, will power and the most important ingredient, people! The people who have believed in my journey to educate, motivate and challenge.
I have all the ʻingredientsʻʻ and Iʼm almost ready to smelt them all together…
And wait until you see what I come up with!
Climb On!
- Wendy
Wendy Booker
Author, Speaker and Life Adventurer
