“Bring something that represents you, a hobby, a craft, a memory, an object.”

Something that represents me. My first thought is family, friends, the people I spend my time with. But they don’t really represent me. I could choose a song, a film, fashion, but all these things would just be what I am resonating with right now, not who I am. So I chose my item by thinking, what would Maia at ten years old choose? What would I have said represented me then?

Shells. Ten year old Maia would have told the class that her (now very dusty) collection of shells represented her.

Collecting shells at the beach is something I am sure most people have experienced at least once in childhood, and for those who have not, I am very sorry. When you grow up on an island, living by the beach, all there is to do is collect shells. Pink shells, white shells, curly shells, flat shells. Shells collected with friends and shells collected alone. Each shell holds a memory, some important and some less so.

So here on my shelf at the grand age of 24 lies my collection of shells. I have often thought about getting rid of them and wondered if ten year old me would even care that I kept them. But still, here they sit, collecting dust and slowly chipping away, with no purpose but to take up space in the cupboard.

I often wonder what drew me to them in the first place. Was it the small joy of spotting one half-buried in the sand and knowing it was mine to keep? I must have spent hours searching, carefully picking each one, as if I understood even then that they were more than just shells. That they were tiny keepsakes of places I had been, moments I had lived.

I still walk that same beach, the same stretch of sand where I once spent whole afternoons collecting. The tide moves in and out just as it always has, burying old things and uncovering new ones. But I no longer search the way I used to. I pass by shells without a second thought, stepping over them as if they were never anything more than pieces of the sea left behind.

Maybe that is why I have never quite been able to let them go. Even though they sit untouched, even though they serve no real purpose, they are a quiet reminder of a version of myself that still exists somewhere. A version that found magic in small things. A version that collected memories without even realizing it. Maybe this project is a chance to reconnect with that part of me, to see if those old shells still have something left to say.

Pinterest Research:

Works Cited

“Beach House Shells” Contemporary Giclee Print by Sarah Gordon - 16 X 20 | Art prints, Art collage wall, Art inspiration. (n.d.). Pinterest. https://pin.it/6dwaN3Ivm

Crombie, M. (2024, February 10). Seashell People. Pinterest. https://pin.it/5xDGVk3PN

EtsyUK. (2024, August 8). Conch Shell Watercolor Painting. Pinterest. https://pin.it/2CDsOl91r

EtsyUK. (2025, January 9). Emerge. Pinterest. https://pin.it/36CzhW7Rh