Your story matters.
Another gorgeous market day. ☀️🤎
I’m not doing as many pop-ups/markets this year as I did last year so I’ve really tried to hone in on participating in the ones that I like the most: ones that feel good and that give me a chance to interact with market-goers comfortably. Without a doubt, the Durham Craft Market in Durham, NC checks all of those boxes. The best thing about markets in general (and life, really) is meeting new people. Whether its a passing laugh or a full on, locked in conversation, it’s refreshing to connect with someone in a way that I couldn’t have ever imagined.
And it’s even more cool that something like candles/scents can be the conduit for that.
One of the best conversations & compliments that I got today was about the stories for each candle. A man and woman walked up and smelled a few candles and told me how much they enjoyed them. They mentioned that they weren’t really candle lovers so they weren’t in the market for a new one, but that the scents were really something special. They lingered for a few seconds as the man tried more scents, so I told them that each candle was made with a story and inspiration and that they were welcome to read the cards that I set out.
The man was intrigued, so he bent down to look at the IVY ROSE story with a picture of my sister, Rossie, on it. After he read the first one, he walked candle by candle down the table to read the rest. He was beyond delighted and said that he loved my writing style.
Before I really realized it, I told them that writing was my first love. And it was! I wrote whatever I could imagine when I was younger. During the height of my John Grisham phase, I wrote a murder mystery style “book” (more of a collection of 1 page stories with impossible to resolve cliffhangers). I wrote tons poetry and essays and speeches. But somehow, I had forgotten that this thing that I’ve always loved—writing & storytelling—meant so much to me, and that perhaps I was good at it. Or at least good—honest—enough to find common ground with a stranger and touch something in their heart.
Life is as difficult as it is fleeting. Everything around us is getting more and more abbreviated. And it’s tempting to stick to a word count or keep things short, even at the expense of something important that you want to say to the world. But today was my reminder not to let those moments pass is silence.
Our stories are important, even to people that we may not know yet.
Never forget or back down from what you love.
Never hesitate to share every word.
#blazeon