President John F. Kennedy said that none of us can do everything but all of us should try to do something.
This isn't so much about the story of our jewelry company as"our story" as a society, nation and world. Our story is the collective experience of the stories we tell each other about who we are, what life's about and what is possible.
In a society that shares a constant stream of violent entertainment and news each day, more of us have become cynical and hopeless than in any time I could remember. Each day I noticed friends and others on my social media timelines sharing stories of violence and unhappiness that they and others lamented and argued about. Human beings learn by listening to and sharing stories. Sharing stories about the bad things going out out there is hard wired into our genes from the days when we early human kind told each other "hey be careful of that cave there's a bear in it!" So we learned to continue telling scary or negative stories over thousands of years.
Today we keep sharing stories of danger and violence through our entertainment. our cable news, and our social media. This creates a cycle of cynicism and hopelessness that keeps people from getting involved in solutions. The stories we tell in many ways becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of our lives. So it's very important that we become mindful and conscious of the choices we make when it comes to what kind of story telling we make.
One day I decided to act myself to change some images going out in the world even if it was just for the people in my immediate surroundings. So I created a tee shirt with the words Peace, Justice & Equality in large bold letters, and wore it whenever I went out in town. I immediately noticed people's reactions. They ranged from positive affirming nods and smiles to people actually walking up to me to talk with me about my shirt. Many of these people would tell me how much they liked the shirt, and the ideas it stood for and wanted to live in a society and world that was like it.
I had almost daily heart to heart conversations with people in my town about how we can create more peace together, how we can have a more just society, and we can treat each other with respect and decency. I would tell them I created this shirt so I could put out in the world the ideas and things that I want to see coming back to me the other way as I walked in life. They would smile and nod and say me too!
I noticed people who I had met and talked with sharing conversations about these ideas with their coworkers and friends. This simple act created ripples of what I now call aWEARness.
That is why I decided to create a series of designs to represent causes and principles I and many others feel are important to advocate for and I integrated them into my new jewelry you see on this website.
It is important to share a constant stream of good stories, of peaceful images and ideas of hope and yes even love in our world so we can create a less violent and healthier world together. I hope you enjoy Better World Advocates and our artwork and if you do please buy our very affordable quality jewelry and shirts all designed for you and your family.
