This is what winning looks like

I entered  my rocks into a display. Yes there are shows for that. They usually are affiliated with a gem show, a rockhound club or something of that nature. I had spent a few years writing about and photographing my stones,and I thought it’s time to step it up and call them an actual collection.

I have an extensive collection of crystals, rocks, fossils and stones.. I can’t pass a cabinet in my home without stopping and admiring them and there is no space left on any shelf, table top and the floor space is starting to get pretty tight. I have a bad case of rockhounditis. I spent several weeks determining which stones to display. I measured out the exact space I would have available, I planned how the finished product would look, I even created new graphics to compliment the stones chosen. the whole time I planned the ‘exhibit’ of my collection I was so excited and pumped, very similar to when I am excited about a gift I am getting for someone. I couldn’t wait until set up started! I called on my years of designing windows for a few area jewelers, I added material for a rich shimmery blanket for my stones to sit on, I added height and dimension, my display rocked literally!

I stepped back and looked at my display, ready to put the door on it with a sense of satisfaction, I did it. I created a beautiful display of my collection. It looked crystaliscious, I had obsessed over it for weeks and it was done. I slid the door on and looked to my right. The next exhibitor had just arrived. He was an elderly man who was hauling lots of boxes and his wife was fussing along behind him. I watched them for a minute and noticed the people in the display on the other side

of them. He was older still and he was putting some of the most fascinating specimens I had ever seen up. I asked him about it and his reply reminded me that I’m just a rockhound adolescent, this man is a real rockhound adult.

What do I mean by that? This man has studied collecting sites longer then I have been alive, when he gets a new rock it isn’t from the corner store or gem show- he goes and finds it, digs it up, cleans it, polishes it, then some of his stones were also set in gold and silver that he worked. Now that is what this rockhound aspires to grow up and be.

I knew then I was in over my head. What did I know about rockhounding. What was I doing throwing me and my stones out there when the ‘real’ players are REAL players. These guys could care less if you have one of the most rare polished pretty stones you can find, they want to know where you found it, how hard was it to dig up, what did you use to clean it and how easy was it to polish. I am stumped with half thought words and the feeling of heat in my cheeks when I know I am out of my league.

One last look at my display, a new perspective this time and it had gone from

looking like a beautiful presentation of a rare collection, to a commercial interpretation of my rockhound spirit. I suddenly wished I had enough guts to get out of the display, but I thought that was silly. Then the man thanked me and wished me luck. That was the moment I realized this was a ‘competition’. Oh, it can get worse huh? The embarrassment in my head was tortuous for the next 2 days of the show. I held my head up, tried to forget about the displays over in the corner and avoided walking past them . Two days later, the last day of the show and I am still reacting in my gut about what I saw with the other displays, the disparity between mine and the others.

The other displays all had a deep meaning to each exhibitor, they had either found these crystals or worked them. They each had stories about the display, and through out the weekend I overheard many of them talking about those stories. The other displays had a character. The character of the rockhound, the spirit of looking for treasure, the belief that there is something there. My display now looked like a mall jewelry store window, with a lot of pomp and bang but no buck.

We have been fascinated with gemstones for 1000’s of years, it’s the story of the stone that gets our attention and holds it. The other displays had some of the most fascinating stories, memories and real adventure attached to them. That is the real spirit of rockhounding, not how pretty we can make them look after the real stories have happened.

I got a blue ribbon for that display. I almost gave it back, then decided that the blue ribbon will always remind what I hope to grow up and be, a real rockhound. I still don’t believe my display actually won, I believe that I got the understanding of what it really means to be a rockhound, and that’s what winning looks like.