Welcoming the Wild: A Sister Story
In celebration of Sister's Day this August 6th, here are my thoughts.
To be able to work with my sister Lizanne has been one of the most meaningful journeys of my life, and (as you can imagine) so different than my other work relationships. She is, after all, out of everyone whom I am fortunate enough to collaborate with, the one who intimately knows me. We are sisters and co-workers. But the b-story (a.k.a., perhaps the better story) is the remembrance of how we played as kids and of our magical moments - and our foibles - as sisters and friends through the years.
As sisters who collaborate, we play well in the sandbox with others. Evolving through this amazing work that we love to do, we find ourselves constantly interjecting the notion that even though we are not who we once were, we still have that child inside of us. We remember who we were, but we don’t bind each other to our past. What an extraordinary gift (as the alternate would be so stifling)! We are binary stars, made of the same material, brought up in the same house, but each on our own path… able to see each other grow and change, and playing that most important role as sister to each other.
My sister knows that I almost impulsively wander to create… and that to do my job well, I need to return again and again to this place that might seem up there, out there, or over there. It may be a place I need to go by myself, but she knows that it is right where I need to be, and she creates space for this. And in building this Poetic experience together with Lizanne, her binary position in my life continues to prop me up and keep me on course, in a magnetic connection, almost instinctively, as only a sister can do.
There is a poem by Mary Oliver, called “Green, Green is My Sister’s House” that I just love and thought appropriate to share with Lizanne, and you all on this day when we honor our sisters. The metaphor of the tree being my sister is so potent for me… receiving that beckoning call, that “clap,” and that welcome to the place where my creativity, my curiosity is nurtured. Heading out on that limb. Where I return to my wild self, my truth, my purpose.
So thank you Sis; thank you for naturally challenging me, leading me, and understanding that side of me that needs to go up the tree, up in the air, so I can return to myself. I love you very much, and wish all of us who have sisters much love today (and to remind us, that if don’t have one, to look to the trees).
With Spirit and Love, Patti
“Green, Green is My Sister’s House” by Mary Oliver
Don’t you dare climb that tree
or even try, they said, or you will be
sent way to the hospital of the
very foolish, if not the other one.
And I suppose, considering my age,
it was fair advice.
But the tree is a sister to me, she
lives alone in a green cottage
high in the air and I know what
would happen, she’d clap her green hands,
she’d shake her green hair, she’d
welcome me. Truly.
I try to be good but sometimes
a person just has to break out and
act like the wild and springy thing
one used to be. It’s impossible not
to remember wild and not want to go back. So
if someday you can’t find me you might
look into that tree or—of course
it’s possible—under it.
– Mary Oliver, “Green, Green is My Sister’s House,” from A Thousand Mornings (Penguin Press, 2012)
SUMMERTIME, Waxing Poetic style
We’re very fortunate, being based in California, to live in a land of [almost] Eternal Summer, but despite our nearly year-round golden weather and adventure-beckoning landscape, the advent of actual Summer itself still feels as magical to our transplanted hearts as it did growing up in a place with a proper seasonal quartet – maybe even more so, because we understand Summer both with and beyond our childhood associations. Summer is more than magical, it’s a kind of magic itself, and we’re positively crackling with excitement for its arrival.
At Waxing Poetic, we believe wholeheartedly in Celebrating the Journey, whether it’s metaphoric, historic, internal, or as summer often allows, external and beyond. With Summer on the horizon, we’re looking forward to what that means for our continuing journeys (yours, ours, and everyone we love’s in between) and newly minted ones. We’re hoping for long-into-the-night dinner parties with dear friends and even longer Skype sessions with overseas or across-the-nation family, we’re hoping for good books and new favorite poems and the Instagram feed that will (quite literally) change our life for the better, we’re hoping for wonder and discovery and love so intense it almost gives you chills if it weren’t lighting you up like so many bright paper lanterns strung across your heart’s horizon…we’re hoping for these things and more, and we’re inviting them by seeking them out.
Introducing POET, a love story
For years now, we’ve been asked to do a men’s collection, and for years we’ve hesitated – not because we didn’t want to make one, but because we wanted to make it right, we wanted to make it true. We also knew that it was going to need a good name, and this was a bit daunting.
It came down to questions of character.
Poets are explorers, not always in terms of travel or terrestrial adventures, but by way of showing and telling. Poets don’t need a lot of flowery excess to convey meaning because they’ve been paying attention to the right details all along.
When we asked each other what qualities we most admire in men, we kept finding that they were the same qualities we most admired in poets – namely, the practice of paying attention, noticing details, and sharing their experience of the world using the familiar (language, symbols, characters, meaning) in slightly unfamiliar (to us) ways.
How does one become a poet? Use familiar tools in an unfamiliar way. Search beyond the surface. Sense the something more. Find the tells. Show and share them. It’s an old formula, often forgotten and even less articulated, but it always works. It works, we think, because it was already true to begin with. How do we make our men Poets? We don’t. Not literally. We don’t force pens or typewriters or laptops in front of them, font cued up, hand them a theme. No, not poet like that. Poet like Noticer, Poet like Hero.
Who is the most interesting character in the room? The one who is noticing. Poets are hiding in plain sight. The man with the sketchbook in the war movie? The poet in the trenches. The poet in the lab. The poet in the classroom. The poet in the boardroom. The poet out surfing. The poet teaching your children to play baseball. The poet who is just this very moment about to finish reading a crime novel, followed by a good Belgian in a bell-shaped glass and about five more minutes in that marinade (for the steaks, babe). That poet. The one who notices.
We elected to give our favorite men our favorite term, and in doing so, designed a collection meant to augment their individual sensibilities with noteworthy, nuanced details: pieces designed to accent innate style versus overtly scripting it, pieces that when employed by the wearer don’t transform him into something new but instead draw concentrated attention to his existing poetic self. To that end, we are humbled and delighted to introduce our POET to the world.
Charity Sponsorship: Direct Relief
Waxing Poetic is donating a portion of all online sale proceeds for the entire summer to Direct Relief.
Benefiting Direct Relief, a highly recognized humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and 70 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies.
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Direct Relief Makes Medical Inventories Available to Assist Texas in Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey
Direct Relief Dispatches Emergency Supplies in Flood Ravaged Communities in Midwest & South
Read More At Direct Relief’s Blog.
Happy Mother's Day
Mother, Mom, Mommy, Ma, Mama, Momma, Mami, Mimi – this is for you who
Held our hands,
kissed our knees, straightened our stances, and showed us the world
One marvel at a time—read us stories,
taught us colors, wore our macaroni jewels,
Bless you,
bless you, bless you.Bless this mother, bless all our mothers, our dearest mamas, our heroines, our darlings
–For our lives, for our capacity to love, for giving us shoulders to cry on, arms to hold us close
(and to remember and feel tight around us, even when we are far apart), quick smiles, oceans of sympathy, humor in abundance, more support than we knew or could ever recognize, grace and joy and patience –May our mothers be blessed with loving children (this falls on us, and we will hold it high), safe homes, abundant love, dear friends with whom to recollect and recount all the adventures (large and small) of the day or moment – shoulders and safe-warm arms to comfort and hold them too (even our heroines need holding, and we want the best for them always)
May they know reciprocity in the most-true ways
May they know they are loved and valued above nearly everything else
May they feel as precious in our eyes as we in theirs
And may they feel as beautiful always as we know they are
She Loved Everything
Every year between Valentines Day, my anniversary in March and Mother's Day in May I practically panic at the thought of finding THREE interesting new gifts within three months to celebrate my wife. It's even harder to keep it interesting when it comes to jewelry since she has never seemed drawn to anything besides Tiffany. When I discovered Waxing Poetic, I had a feeling she would like the personalized aspect of many of the choices but I completely underestimated her reaction. She loved everything, from the use of initials to symbols of our daughter to the unique touches of the bracelet and packaging. She has beamed for days since and is so proud to show it off as her own lucky charms. I have no doubt now she'll be excited to add more as the life events continue! - Ben N.
At Waxing Poetic we receive so much amazing and touching feedback from our customers. It would be impossible to share all of it and we are truly honored and humbled by you, our customers. This month, with Mother's day right around the corner, we wanted to feature Ben N. who has given Waxing Poetic as a gift to his lovely wife on special occasions. We sat down with him to learn more about his experience with Waxing Poetic and to share his story.
Q: How did you first hear or learn about WP? What were you looking for when you found us?
A: I learned about WP through my dear friend Patti – and as I followed her personal story I realized she offered a great way for her jewelry to tell their own personal stories.
Q:Was there something at first stopping you from ordering WP? If so, what?
A: I probably looked at WP for a year before buying it – I wasn’t sure how my wife would receive jewelry from a brand she hadn’t necessarily heard of (but meanwhile I was getting tired of feeling trapped by more commercial choices).
Q: Who were you thinking of when you were shopping?
A: I immediately thought of my wife – I know what matters most to her is something personal and something unique.
Q: What drew you to the piece(s) that you selected at first? Why did you pick them?
A: My wife has always liked charms – so it was fun to choose the ones that included the most important parts of our relationship, whether intertwined initials, hearts, and initials and symbols related to our daughter and family.
Q: What does the piece signify for you? Is it a reminder, a memory, a characteristic, feeling, etc. Tell us about this in detail?
A: I first bought WP jewelry for my wife on our seventh anniversary when I realized more commercial options just didn’t’ feel special and that we had a lot of experiences in our time together to celebrate. By initially choosing symbols of our marriage over time it was a great way to then add others along the way – especially as our daughter is growing.
Q: What was the reaction you got when you gave WP or when people see you wearing WP?
A: I know my wife was surprised – although she wasn’t familiar with it as first, as she learned the story and recognized all the elements that were personal to her she seemed to forget about previous jewelry brands that she may have respected as brands but not necessarily valued as truly special.
Q: What do you think about the quality and design details of the piece(s) specifically?
A: The quality is top notch and I know my wife feels the detail going into each piece is incredibly thoughtful.
Q: What is the most important part of WP that you like the most?
A: It allows the wearer to tell their own story through a variety of unique, touching elements.
Q: How did you feel about Jewelry before you found/own WP? How is WP different from other Jewelry you [buy]?
A: To be honest I felt a little hamstrung by little blue boxes (which in the end didn’t feel personal or unique) and gem stones (where I didn’t always feel good about quality). WP is definitely a more unique, personal touch when looking to buy gifts for my wife and the quality has been terrific.
Q: Would you recommend WP, who to, why? What would you tell them? How would you describe WP to them?
A: I recommend WP to anyone who is looking for jewelry that allows for more individuality and personal connection instead of just buying a brand. Giving my wife her first WP bracelet and then continuing to add to it with new elements that represent what is important to us has turned out to be a much more meaningful experience than giving her less personal (and even more expensive!) items in the past.
Earth Day 2017: Perspective
To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known. – Carl Sagan
That is the last line of Carl Sagan’s moving and ever insightful message about our Earth, inspired by “The Pale Blue Dot” photograph of planet Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 spacecraft from a record distance of about 6 billion kilometers (3.7 billion miles) from Earth. In the photograph, Earth is shown as a tiny dot (0.12 pixel in size) against the vastness of space.
Life is complicated, and we feel divided. Here, Carl Sagan's beautiful "Pale Blue Dot" speech inspired by that photograph, to put it all in perspective, reminds us that we’re all in this together.
From this vantage point, our Earth looks somewhat like a mere seed. A connection worth exploring. Though seeds seem relatively tiny, the entire life of a plant is hiding inside. And from Space, our Earth appears insignificant, yet holds all the incredible wonders of our natural world, our planet’s unique history involving too many creations and stories to ever comprehend. And, of course, the seed of our humanity.
And what does a seed need to grow? Well, for one, water. In commitment to our beautiful home, our Earth, our blue dot, we are donating a portion of our online sales to the Waterkeeper Alliance, a national organization committed to keeping our waterways clean. And why does our earth look like a blue dot from space? NASA says because it’s mostly covered in water.
Find out more about this organization here:
https://www.waxingpoetic.com/cms/waterkeeper-alliance/
Happy Earth Day. Every choice we make counts. Let’s tread lightly and care for our resources on this beautiful Earth.
Let your Self have a guiding word
What happens when you distill down your focus, intentions - dare we say, life in-the-moment - into one word?
With the release of our new Wordplay collection, we’ve been pondering this question here at our WP hub… and we’ve seen a quite interesting kind of internal motivation and connection within and among us as a result.
The wearable variety of guiding words isn’t new to us. We use little talismans of sentiment on our jewelry as touchpoints on a variety of things that matter to us.
But just one word? Yes.
One.
Word.
One that you can wear and touch, that reminds you of the life you are creating. Yes (yes actually happens to be Patti’s favorite guiding word). What is yours, right now?
Let’s find out. Be still. You may already know your word (one will come to mind pretty quickly… don’t edit, just recognize). You may have a word that if more of a life word (like Patti’s yes) or may need one to reflect and direct something you have going on right now (feeling stuck? Wanderlust helps… something like that!).
Or maybe you aren’t sure. Just turn inward to listen to yourself: what words do you hear over and over? Always a good place to start. And here, a few more places to begin the journey toward the right wearable word (or words) for you:
What do I want to cultivate in my life?
What is my essence, in one word?
What quality describes an accomplishment?
What is my truth?
What affirms my beliefs?
What is a common theme in my life that I keep coming back to?
Words are memories, motivators, affirmations, and most importantly, portals to our deepest desires. The closer we get to ourselves, the truer the transformative effects of these little efforts, these little, very powerful, words. What word if calling out to you now?
View the entire Wordplay collection here.
DUE COURSE: THE SCENIC ROUTE
Inspiration behind the Honey Love collection, straight from the hive along the Scenic Route
1) quite literally, we like looking at things and taking our time and not rushing and being careful to notice tiny details and unexpected treasures and sometimes going so far off the beaten path we end up in the middle of the mountains surrounded by flowers and
2) appreciating similar tendencies in others who went before us and learning from/being inspired by their journeys and discoveries and
3) being grateful for those who left milemarkers, signposts, maps, fieldguides, and star charts so that
4) when we get to a place where we feel filled enough with feeling and fervor that we want to make things, we can do so in a way that is filled with
5) Reverence for the world, for nature, for our families, for our friends, for our artisans, for our craftspeople, for the raw materials we source with great care and
6) for the tremendously gifted and giving people who help realize our vision and designs into tangible, wearable, dreamroutes.
View our Honey Love collection, along with other jewelry inspired by the Natural World here:https://www.waxingpoetic.com/collections/themed-jewelry/natural-world/
Welcome to Nota Bene (both Latin and Italian for “note well,” which we do around here!). At Waxing Poetic, we make things, and get the chance to see them made real (and loved, and changed – by all of you). Here you will find tiny actions, tiny pieces, and tiny particulars of our process – the small (and not so small) things that matter much.
Enjoy!
Patti Pagliei, Founder
