How to keep your marbles
I love marbles. They’re colourful, sparkly, smooth and when nestled together in a glass jar, they look lovely on my desk! But that’s not the only reason I love them. Marbles are super-versatile and can be used in many different ways. Here are just a few of my favourites uses for those tiny glass spheres:
Every marble is an achievement
Personally, I think it really helps to have visual reminders of our achievements and marbles are perfect for the task. Every time something happens that you want to celebrate or remember (however small), put a marble into a jar as a visual reminder of what you’ve achieved. Watching the jar slowly fill up is really satisfying, especially on those days when you’re questioning whether you’ve actually done anything meaningful in the past year. I try to use jars of marbles to track celebrations, achievements and accomplishments, because they remind me of what’s been happening and of what I’m proud of in my life.
Marbles are great for keeping track of things
If you’re on-board with using marbles to represent the small achievements in your life, then why not use them for other things too? In the past, I’ve even used jars of marbles to track the number of hours I’ve worked on a project: moving marbles from one jar to another enables you to keep track of your time without the fuss of filling out a timesheet (or - if you’re anything like me - forgetting to do it!). Having the jars on your desk in front of you acts as a constant reminder to log your hours as you work.
Marbles can be used to represent how trust is built up
Whenever I’m running a Dare to Lead workshop - based on the work of Brené Brown - I use marbles to illustrate the way that vulnerability is built up in small moments over time. They act as a visual representation of the fact that trust and vulnerability doesn’t simply happen overnight, it emerges through a combination of multiple small but meaningful gestures and learning experiences. When I’m training, I give an empty jar to all the participants at the start of the workshop and they take marbles during the sessions whenever they do something that feels vulnerable. It’s a tangible reminder and acknowledges the moments of vulnerability that emerge over time.
Marbles are really cool and sparkly
Never forget the importance of surrounding yourself with lovely things. When I come to work, I enjoy looking at my jars of marbles, not only because of what they represent but also because they’re a nice thing to have on my desk!
If you’d like to try this for yourself, then you can give it a go with minimal effort and expense. Start with a jam jar or spice jar, then just add the marbles as you go. If you’ve got kids then you might already have some marbles kicking around the house, otherwise those pretty glass beads they sell in craft shops and garden centres work just as well. Introducing a marble jar (or two) might make your desktop a little more cluttered, but for me it’s absolutely worth it, because it reminds me every day of what I have achieved and that I haven’t lost my marbles. Yet!
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