Collecting treasures + letting them go.

A short story about the birth of our mala beads, told by our Founder.

I just wanted to make pretty things…

And then people started buying them off my neck.

And then I moved from Bali to Sri Lanka, which turned out to be an international gem hub. So I went on an adventure and learned about stone quality, polishing, how and where to source materials, and saw a few elephants along the way...

But let's rewind to my first ever design - VERITY (previously named 'Royal Expression' after the royal blue Lapis Lazuli, elegant design and the Throat Chakra enhancing benefits of the crystals. )

This design is actually the one that started it all. In 2018, I was staying in Brisbane for a week and the housemate of my friend JUST HAPPENED to be this rad chick who loves hiking, deep chats + crystals. And she had a lot (repeat, A LOT) of beads. At this point, I had had it in my mind for a couple years to figure out how to make malas. Ever since receiving my first mala a few years prior, which was custom made and gifted to me by my best friend, I felt more grounded in who I am (even if I didn't know who that was) and it became a sort of security blanket, quickly becoming part of everyday apparel.

I have always loved creating things with my hands and I had this random urge to run mala-making workshops at yoga retreats (because who doesn’t wanna spend their time hanging out on yoga retreats + making pretty things?!)

I just couldn’t figure out how to tie that damn knot tight enough!

My greatest barriers

on my self-taught mala making journey was finding the right thread + figuring out a technique to tie the knot tight enough.

It sounds simple (as life generally is) but without these key components, you don’t have a proper mala. If the thread is too small, the bead slips over the knot and if the knot isn’t tight enough, the beads move around and it's part of who I am to always create my best work with anything I do. Plus, my perfectionism just can’t look at something messy. Mess, in my mind, signifies an incomplete process and I prefer to reserve that for life’s INtangibles. Something that soothes me about making mala beads and other crafts is the level of completeness and tidiness I can bring to the process and, of course, the fact that it’s TANGIBLE.

I can touch it.
It has a beginning and an end.
I can describe it’s colours, textures, uses, how it came to be, what category it fits into.

It’s the exact OPPOSITE of the human experience.

Designing + creating jewellery has brought so much peace + purpose into my life and travels, and is now a vehicle for me to share a piece of myself with the world. My brand, Passion Pilgrim, brought me on a creative adventure from finding the stones + learning how to polish them, to providing jobs to local villages and sharing the stories of the people involved in the creative process. Throughout the years, creativity has become my doorway to explore myself, others and the world. Passion Pilgrim is an extension of my soul and something that enables me to connect to the root of who I am while providing community for every other soul out there.

Back in Brisbane, Alana (literally) tied it all together for me and gave me everything I need to put it all together. After that, I was quickly + effortlessly guided to the best stone suppliers, cute little bags were made, I had backorders to fulfil and I had created jobs for local Indonesian people who wanted and needed work.

A portion of our yearly sales go towards sending underprivileged kids to school on the island of Lombok, in the same village that helps tie the knots in your mala beads.

Living in Sri Lanka turned out to be a temporary thing and I found myself back in Bali shortly after my elephant and gem-hunting adventure. I have called Bali home ever since.

"Why do you sell malas?" I've been asked. The answer is simple - so I can make more! I enjoy playing with rocks + sparkly things, and my favourite part of this whole endeavour is the PROCESS. The more I sell, the more jobs I create. Passion Pilgrim has brought so much more purpose into my life than I ever thought possible just from tying knots in string!

I now spend my life the way I've always wanted - living in my own version of paradise, collecting treasures, collaborating with other creatives, sharing with the community and mermaiding in the sea. Spending my life sprinkling beauty everywhere I go is deeply satisfying; after all, I am a Passion Pilgrim.

Thank you for reading a piece of Passion Pilgrim's story. Know that with each purchase, you are providing purpose to every single person involved in the making of your piece, as well as contributing to a brighter future for their kids.

Always handmade with love,