353) Missing Bling

Warning: slightly morbid post ahead.

I don't typically wear a lot of jewelry, but have an appreciation for rings. On days when I'm feeling festive, I'll wear bunch of them at once, and on more low-key days a solitary one will do.

Some rings I buy on an eye-caught whim (never over $20 - too easy to lose), and others carry special meaning. Without consciously meaning to initially, I formed a habit of purchasing a ring in every country I visit, and at every significant period of my life. Each is a small reminder of another time, of somewhere else.

The four shown above are what I like to call my "missing girl" rings. I'm usually wearing one if not all of them on any given day. Morbidly, I imagine that this is the jewelry the police would use to identify me, if real life was like CSI. From left to right:

1) Bought at the Brooklyn flea market last May when I came to NY to feel out the city before committing to move. "Shift Key" has not only served as a great conversation starter (especially in interviews - I've been asked three separate times whether my ring says "Shit Key"), but it's also become a bit of a reminder to shift perspectives and try to look at things from a different angle.

2) Bought at one of the jewelry stands along Bruin Walk at UCLA. I'd been looking forever for a ring with these dark, black stones all clustered together.

3) My rabbit ring. My brother bought it for me when we were in Seoul last summer at one of those crazy street markets. I love that it looks like Frank from Donnie Darko.

4) The ring that started it all. I bought this plain, sterling silver band during my first abroad program to France, back at the beginning of high school. I'm amazed it hasn't been lost.

I wrote once about paranoidly checking the backseat of my car on dark nights, or imagining someone waiting under my car to slit my Achilles heel. As weirdly graphic and specific as it sounds, I received a couple comments from females who said that they have the same fears. Is this another one of those? Do other females think of the jewelry they wear every day as potential identifiers, should something happen? Or have I just been watching too many episodes of Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit?