Another week, another accessory that I don't like. Last time, it was the transition lenses on my glasses. This time, earring studs.

I've always had a healthy and positive relationship with jewelry- especially earrings. I got my ears pierced when I was about three years old or so and the pictures from that ceremony (yes, it was an ear piercing and head-shaving ceremony) are absolutely priceless. I've included a few for your enjoyment- both the ear piercing and the shaved head.

What a time. Me

I'm just so happy here. Me

Just so happy. Me

Basically, what you're seeing here is a bunch of professional ear piercers using a plain needle to pierce my ears. All they used to numb me was turmeric on my earlobes. I'm seated on my mom's lap, even though tradition calls for my uncle (brother of my mother) to get my ears pierced on his lap, but uh...he didn't show up. It's a South Indian thing. Family grudges and a bunch of traditional ceremonies. Anyways, my mom is shoving some kind of Indian sweet in my mouth to distract me from the blunt force trauma. And my head was shaved because of, well, tradition. And turmeric is put on top of that to promote hair growth and healing of any razor cuts that may have happened.

Bald me with my late grandfather...we're twinning. Me.

Wow. Me

But nevertheless, I'm glad I got them pierced when I was that young because the older me doesn't have a very high threshold for expected pain. If the pain is unexpected, I can deal with it, but when I know it's coming, I can't handle it. So that creates sort of a problem when I have to get shots or give bloods, but I'll just fight my way through those couple times a year I have to.

Anyways, in those photos from after the ear piercing ceremony, you can see that I'm wearing the same sort of earring type. They're traditional South Indian earrings, also called "jimmiki kammal" or "jhumka." I kept those same earrings in for a long time, obviously cleaning occasionally, but I mean that I just wore the same pair for a while.

Jimmiki kammals. Kalyan Jewellers

Yup, there they are. Me

Dangly earrings, but different. Me.

I've been blessed to not have any jewelry allergies, like silver or gold, so I really enjoy indulging in earring purchases. At one point in my life, I even became my own jewelry supplier and made my own earrings. I was making bank when I was only 10 years old, thanks to the beautiful beads at Native America in downtown Athens and the accessible earring making supplies at Hobby Lobby. And by bank, I mean that I probably peaked at a hundred bucks. But that's bank for a 10 year old. Still have my kit in my bathroom closet if I ever need to hammer out some new designs.

The earrings that I made all had the similar layout- the normal hook and then a few beads or metal pieces. A few metal rings to allow the longer metal rod to rotate more freely. But that was it. At one point, I may have gone a little overboard with the earring designs, both built and bought, because one of my good friends, Atticus (love you!) labelled me as weird in third grade because I wore a bunch of weird earrings. Sshyeah, that's why I'm weird.

Anyways, I've never been one for studs. Why? In my opinion, and on my ears, they don't add anything to my appearance. As beautiful as many studs are, I feel like their purpose gets kind of dulled out on my ears. They don't shine like normal dangly earrings. I honestly think they get hidden by my chubby cheeks, so they just disappear from my front-facing profile. They also tend to get hidden when I wear my hair down- it's just a shadow of black masking them. I'm serious, I've analyzed this- just look at this picture. Maybe this isn't great evidence, but I promise I'm wearing studs. They're orange metal flowers.

I promise, I'm wearing earrings in this- they're just hidden by my bad choice of bangs and my cheeks. Me

The mane of hair just hides everything. Me.

Anyways, I honestly don't think that studs really compliment by face shape, and I sometimes wish that I could love them as much as I do dangly earrings. I did invest in a nice climber earrings pair last year which I love, but I only tend to wear those when I pin my hair back. I tend to also only gravitate towards silver or gold earrings. I used to wear a lot more colorful jewelry, but I prefer standardizing my daily accessories to one metal type/color.

Climber earrings, my best friend, and the Gymdogs! Me.

I will always be that girl who would rather wear flashy earrings than no earrings- I honestly feel wrong when I don't have my earrings in or a ring on my index finger. I even keep a backup pair in my purse to avoid that situation. I've gotten a few earring studs as gifts before and have always regretted that I couldn't use them more, apart from when I'm lounging at home in basketball shorts or pajamas. I also wear studs when I go swimming just so I'm not completely bald of accessories. Maybe I'll grow into wearing studs someday. Until then, I'll always enjoy seeing the glint of my ridiculous dangly earrings in every picture- even when I re-wear the same pair for many days in a row..

Haein + a cat + me! Me

You could see that glint from a mile away. Me.

Can you tell I'm running out of article ideas? Me

Yeah, I'd really love if my earrings took up even more space. Me.

Thanks for reading this slightly pointless article! Happy first week of my second year at college :)