Triskelion Symbol and Extract of Tao Te Ching

There is no more of an honor than being told that somebody would like to wear my creation every single day for the rest of his life, especially when that somebody himself is truly one hell of an artist. It is my pleasure to share with you what the legendary Sam Koji Hale had me make! In fact, let me just share the concept behind this piece in his own words.

“I can’t be happier with the ring Chloe made for me! She was very receptive to working my two concepts into the ring design - use of the Irish treskelion symbol (it’s three spiral arms connecting in the center) and concepts from the Tao Te Ching. I really wanted the ring to represent the longevity of love and the changing nature of romance. The treskelion comes from designs I saw in Irish burial tombs, which I took to symbolize life, death and rebirth - CHANGE! And the Tao Te Ching is all about growth through harmony and change with the universe. It represents an openness to growth and ability to adjust to the unexpected that comes along the path of life. Chloe was great in helping me pick some wonderful lines from the ancient Chinese texts for the inscription inside the ring. Now I wear a great wedding/anniversary band that speaks to the continual evolution that a couple goes through from their twenties through later years of their relationship - from the intense fire of young love to the constancy and warmth of matured love. It’s a wonderful gift and reminder wearing this ring!”

What beautiful thoughts on love and growth indeed. So beautiful that I felt like I might as be shooting a romance film when I was making this ring! From listening to their love story to digging into the carefully selected, relatable extract of Tao Te Ching, to figuring out the aesthetics and technical approach to the piece, I was showered by the loving energy all around me and I cannot be more satisfied with the outcome.

I believe that any lasting love story evolves with changes, and that shouldn’t be a bad thing at all. Changes are inevitable and necessary. Embracing change is somewhat like understanding and appreciating what fire can do for us. Passion has a mesmerizing quality when it’s roaring to a point that it’s almost dangerous and destructive. But unless we want to also die from that gorgeous and out of control flame, we need to be willing to look again. Then and only then, we will be able to experience the gentle, warm, and nurturing side of it.

The translation of what we picked from Tao Te Ching is something like this…

“大方無隅 , 大象無形 , 夫唯道，善貸且成
The law of nature is extraordinary, shapeless and formless. In order to become one with it, we must utilize all power, and you are on the way to THE WAY.”

It taught us how to morph with changes and use it to our advantage in life! If this isn’t motto-worthy, I don’t know what it.

Once again it is an absolute honor to be asked to create this piece and I hope that it leaves you a little bite of delicious food for thought.
For custom inquiries, don’t hesitate to reach out!

We’re all just walking each other home

I am not a religious person.

Although I did go to a Christian elementary school and sing hymns in morning assembles and before lunch, I never felt connected to the belief. Then somehow, as a teenager I very briefly identified myself as a Christian after attending a summer camp, where I was moved to the core by a priest’s personal story. I went to church after that, but within a month or two I was tired of the people. I found them hypocritical. Boys went there to meet girls, girls went there to gossip. None of them were there to understand and strengthen their faith, but they all acted like they were better than you. So I left and that was that. Perhaps because of my adolescent experience, I used to stereotype religious people. I thought they were either boring, pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental… or all of the above. Terrible assumption, I know. But probably because I was younger and dumber and was definitely the one who was boring, pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental… and possibly more.
Some years later, by chance, I worked at a cemetery for two years and almost all of my coworkers were Catholics. They have, by being themselves, changed my narrow view on religious people. They were nothing like how I remembered them to be. Instead, they were friendly, openminded, accepting, caring and really not boring at all. I am not trying to compare Christians to Catholics, I am merely trying to say that how religious a person appears to be, has nothing to do with how decent he or she actually is.

At some point I started reading about Buddhism, and I don’t agree with everything that’s in there either, especially not the pessimistic aspects of it. Yet, I found it closer to how I see the world. So I take what I need, treating it much more like a philosophy that I can relate to than actual rules to follow.
But I am not a scholar or a preacher. I am not here to copy and paste someone else’s research or to talk about which religion is real and which isn’t. I am here to share my views on how we connect to others in this life, on this Earth, at this very confused moment.

Also by chance, one of my extended family members, who is also my collector is religious. She commissioned me to make a sterling silver band ring for her. She didn’t give me any theme or restriction. It’s an artist’s dream project. It’s a make-whatever-you-please job. But I didn’t want to just make whatever I want (for it might end up being some clown that only amuses me). I wanted to create a piece that sparks joy for the both of us. I am stubborn like that, hey, mind you, I didn’t quit my steady 9-5 to do something that I don’t care for. So I asked her a bunch of questions. On top of the general aesthetics-related ones, I asked her personal ones. Real personal ones, like what was she healing from? Who’s her hero? What inspired her…etc. And from the conversation I learnt that her faith was her light and connection with different people was mine. Then I remembered at the beginning of this whole COVID disaster she and I had a brief conversation about how we were coping. I told her that it was quite saddening how I spent so long gathering all this courage to do my thing only to have all my plans trashed. She said, “We make plans and God laughs.” For some reason that really left a mark. Believe in God or not, isn’t that true? So much for planning and so much for our vision. They all boil down to how we manage our expectations. It’s a matter of our attitude. Therefore, to that statement, I ping-ponged back “Laugh with Him.”

We don’t have to share the same faith with another human being to understand how they feel. All it takes is a little bit of observation and a little bit of compassion. We are all so different in so many superficial ways, yet we’re all so similar on a fundamental level. Like the famous spiritual guru Baba Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.”