A new year is upon us which makes for a great time to focus on personal growth and development. New years mean new chances to reflect on goals and aspirations, and the steps we must take to achieve them. Whether you're looking to improve your career, relationships, health, mental state, or overall well-being. Starting over when the calendar resets is a great way to start on a clean slate. But when we say we need to start over, what does that actually mean?
When my brother and I started this brand in 2009 we knew we wanted to turn the little handmade jewelry and t-shirt business we concocted in the room over our grandparent’s garage into a fully functioning lifestyle company. Primarily because we had a keen understanding that giving back is a lifestyle, not just a brand with a name.
We didn’t want to create a gimmick, a trick, or claim we “gave back” simply to pull on heartstrings. We knew, way back then, that being socially-aware had to span far past giving meals when products sold, and actually had to be a real way of life, one that permeated how we treated ourselves, others, even the planet.
Truth is, it can be far easier to show up to a homeless shelter and help feed those in need than to walk into a meeting, sit across the table from a person who has a very different political affiliation than you, and show love. Am I right?
What if we used this new year as a time to challenge ourselves to become renewed inside even more than out? What if we challenged ourselves to give back to the “least of these” in those circumstances when giving back means giving love to someone who isn’t lacking financially, seems undeserving, egotistical, arrogant, or even obnoxious?
Can we see past people’s facades and choose to look at what may be looming underneath? Be it, self-hatred, insecurity, fear, unhealed trauma? Can we go there? I don’t know about you, but for me, this is a lot harder than saying “it’s a new year I vow to volunteer regularly, journal everyday, or eat more vegetables, and workout three times a week.” Right? But I think this is what living a life of giving back is actually all about.
So I hope you’ll join me in choosing a deep, purpose-filled life as the thing to improve upon this year. Moment by moment we can “start over” in 2023 by showing more kindness than before, giving more love than others are used to getting from us, extending more compassion than we typically do, and caring….even when (and especially when) the person we’re engaging with seems to deserve it least.
Here’s to investing in the things that make us our best.
With love,
Carmin
Spring is a season that inspires my creativity like no other! As the winter cold gives way to warmer weather and longer days, it fuels me with renewal, growth, and fresh beginnings. I quite literally feel better, and there is science behind it! It is a time when nature comes back to life, and my spirits are lifted by the colors, sounds, and smells of baby blooms.
