Surrender Box

Yesterday was my cousin, Cassandra’s birthday and I made her a Surrender Box (something I only recently learned of from an e-newsletter I’m subscribed to called Daily Om.) When I decided a while back that I not only wanted to create keepsake boxes but recycle old cigar boxes to do it, it’s largely because I just loved the idea of taking something that may have ended up in a landfill and giving it a second life. What I have not loved and has been my biggest challenge are all the imperfections that arise from engraving these boxes, which often do not become evident until the actual box is being engraved with the laser; when that top layer of wood is taken off revealing the not-so-perfect wood underneath. (In this case, a strip of adhesive that was originally holding the top veneer on this box in its first life as a cigar box, became front and center.) Because I am, and have always been, such a perfectionist, these things push me out of my comfort zone constantly, but I also recognize this isn’t a bad thing, but a necessary thing (especially for me.) After all, it’s the imperfections in us all that make us so unique.
Perfect imperfections!