The beauty of belief
is it doesn't matter whether the thing you believe is true or not. 
It's your belief in it that gives it its power.
You have to believe that something that doesn't exist can exist
to bring it into the world.
If you start with the idea that it's impossible, then it's impossible.
We believe our way into things,
​allowing them to come into being in the world.
~Rick Rubin, via this phenomenal listen

I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart
+ to try to love the questions themselves
as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.
Don’t search for the answers,
which could not be given to you now,
because you would not be able to live them.
And the point is to live everything.
Live the questions now.
Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually,
without even noticing it,
live your way into the answer.
~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

Noticing the shifting light in this space this morning...and feeling grateful. The upper cabinets are gone. The new window is letting in more light. It feels open + spacious + unencumbered. The project is unfinished, but it is good.

My autumn left little time, mental space or energy for much other than pouring myself into work, so I tackled the organization + function of this space little by little. One weekend, I'd maximize the function of the space under the sink. Another weekend, I'd figure out where the dry food items could live. Each improvement, whether big or small, was felt with great appreciation.

​My thoughts about the organization + function of our kitchen began with the decision that this space would only house items that we use...and that we use to make food. This has been the most important piece of this puzzle. 

A few of the projects tackled that are now functioning well:

• A + F + a narrow rolling cart between the stove + fridge :: spots for different types of dry food 
• B :: a drawer for coffee + tea
• C :: a drawer full of jars
• D :: a shelf that fits where the dishwasher (we never used) lived...now our microwave doesn't take up counter space
• E :: the space under the sink now has spots for cleaning supplies, clean + dirty rags, spent batteries + bulbs, compost, recycling + trash 
• G :: a tray for the toaster that keeps crumbs contained + allows the toaster to be taken out of the cupboard easily when needed
• G :: a bin for the coffee press + grinder which allows them to be taken out of the cupboard + slid back in easily every morning
• F + G :: moving a few things that are not used often to the back + corner of the cabinets
• H :: baking sheets + skillet live in the stove drawer
• I :: a place for an 8 foot long shelf that is being made to hold our dishes + jars full of bulk ingredients (can't wait!)

I actually have a few empty drawers + baskets at the moment which feels really good! 

Love,
​Jane

Surf shops seem to have a special way of partnering with artists + makers. Slowly shaping boards into tools with nuance related to both wave + rider can surely enhances a shaper's ability to appreciate makers of other useful objects. Spending hours in the ocean nudges a surfer's a sense of interconnectedness with nature that can heighten sensitivity toward the resources we consume + use. 

Daydream Surf Shop offers handmade items as varied as surfboards, ceramics, clothing, skincare products + pastries. Their line of clothing is designed, sewn + garment dyed in California. Their tees are made from 100% USA-grown cotton that is knitted in Los Angeles. The sweatshirts are made from organic hemp + cotton.​ (More styles of clothing are on offer as well...including some made from deadstock fabrics + some vintage pieces as well!)

Daydream Surf Shop also sells gorgeous towels that are designed in Costa Mesa, California + made in the USA. I'm sure they would work just as well after a shower as on the beach (says this girl who lives nowhere near a beach).  ;) I would absolutely love to visit this little gem of a shop (and cafe!) in Newport Beach, California!

All lovely photos via Daydream Surf Shop.

Love,
​Jane

It's a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world.
​~Mary Oliver :: Red Bird

Roberta avoids trends when designing Wilder footwear in hopes of increasing longevity of wear. Integrity was a founding value of the brand which Roberta has interpreted as choosing vegetable tanned leather whenever possible, using recycled paper for packaging + producing in limited quantities in an effort to avoid waste. I like that the styles seem to work throughout the spectrum of casual to more dressy...jeans or shorts to dresses. Wilder footwear are made prioritizing safe work conditions + fair wages in Los Angeles + Brazil.

All lovely photos via Wilder.

A little creativity check-in today...a handmade pillow for a charcoal couch. My thought has been that I would cover our couches with white denim slipcovers...and maybe I will one day. Right now, it's feeling right to embrace the dark of our charcoal couch...which sits in our north facing living room...and to double down with some dark pillows. 

I love any opportunity to dip into my little stash of denim + indigo dyed scraps...zero-waste...meditative stitching...wabi-sabi...boro inspired goodness. One down...one to go.

Love,
Jane