#iampoetic - Featured Friend Maggie

 FEATURED FRIENDS OF WAXING POETIC

MAGGIE DAVIS: VALUING RELATIONSHIPS

The minute she was born, loved oozed out of all my pores and now that she is an adult it still does, along with respect and admiration.
-Maggie Davis on daughter Morgan

I am a loving wife & mother (I love being a mom!), loyal friend, reflexologist, optimist, caring, generous, easy going, a healthy sense of humor, active, love food and travel, hiking, books and film.

What Matters Most to you?
I value human relationships. And I dream of a world where everyone realizes we are in this together and acts accordingly (for the greater good). I love my family and friends, my community.  I am lucky to call my family friends as well!

And your relationship with your daughter, Morgan?

The minute she was born, loved oozed out of all my pores and now that she is an adult it still does, along with respect and admiration.What does being poetic mean to you?
It embodies artistic expression of the everyday and usually makes me feel good.

We know you love a good quote – can you share your favorite?
Right now I'm focusing on “Be Kind.” I also appreciate “When you are going through hell, keep going” - Winston Churchill

On giving back?
I regularly donate to Direct Relief and Vitamin Angels. They are both amazing charities where most of my donation goes to help those in need.

We can tell your Waxing Poetic charm necklace is meaningful to you!

I bought it while shopping in Los Olivos with my best friend -  we each bought a necklace for ourselves and a charm for it for each other.

I now have several WP charms on my necklace and they represent my family including my cat!  The combination of metals in one piece is so unique, and I love the quality handmade look of each piece.  People enjoy my necklace and like to hear about what each charm represents.

I have owned and worn Waxing Poetic jewelry since I bought it and I still like it and it still looks great!

Create Your Own Meaningful Necklace

INSIGNIAS

CAMP CHARMS

#iampoetic - Featured Friend Laurie

 FEATURED FRIENDS OF WAXING POETIC

LAURIE DEAN AND THE PRACTICE OF LOVE

I am very passionate about exploring and practicing the timeless teachings of the Buddha. This practice brings me a sense of wonder and allows me to shift from powerlessness to joy and freedom.

On what it means to be poetic

Living life fully expressed in movement, flow, grace, and playfulness.We love this quote you shared:

“Find that which is fearless in you, that which is all-powerful, that which is good and trust it. For that is what your truly are.”   - 16^th century monk

You are involved in our local community – how do you stay connected?

One of my favorite communities that I support is a local meditation center – Bodhi Path Santa Barbara. It is a diverse body of practitioners of all ages and levels of practice. The heart of this community is palpable and easily accessible, and the teachings are nourishing with insights and tools for everyday practice.

What Laurie is wearing

Wonderfully Intertwined

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.  With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we wanted to feature Charlie who has given Waxing Poetic as a gift to his wife.  He shares his Waxing Poetic story below.

I blew my first chance to make a memorable wedding proposal. Granted, when I first asked my wife-to-be to become my wife we’d already been living together ten years, so there was not much doubt that our relationship was serious and long-term. We’d met in college, had made it through some early periods of geographical separation, and had even survived her one attempt to break up with me—which I responded to by essentially going into deep denial that the words ‘break up’ had ever been spoken.

Somewhere near the end of that first decade together, we were on the dance floor during the reception of a college friend’s wedding. The lights were sparkling, the band was playing “Moon River,” and the woman I loved looked exceptionally beautiful. The moment felt right, so I made my move and said, “We should do this.” That was it. No ring. No down on one knee. Just “Moon River” and access to somebody else’s champagne. Remarkably, after a quick clarification as to what exactly “do this” meant, the woman I loved ignored the lack of proper flourish and agreed to marry me. She didn’t want rings or hoopla for our engagement—those were saved for our marvelous, extremely-memorable wedding day.

Twenty-five years later, I got a second chance to propose. As our anniversary date approached, I thought about how I might right my initial fumble, and when I discovered that Waxing Poetic could design matching, intertwined initial rings, the answer was clear. On the big day, I beckoned my wife out to our home’s sunny patio where I’d set up vases of roses and our own chilled bottle of champagne. There, I went down on one knee, presented her with a ring that perfectly symbolized our shared life, and asked if she would continue to be my wife. I was a little thrown when she didn’t say ‘Yes’ right away, but it turned out she was not reconsidering—just overcome with emotion. When I showed her my matching ring, she started crying, I started crying, and finally, after 25 years, we had a joyous proposal befitting our loving union. We popped the champagne, danced to the music, and began our next 25 years with matching rings —and with hearts, lives and initials perfectly, wonderfully intertwined.

WORDS TO LIVE BY

“tell them about the dream” Honoring MLK, and the inspiring way the most influential speech of the 20th century came about

The bravery and courage to tell the truth – to tap into ultimate truth – transforms us. The beloved activist and advocate for social justice, Martin Luther KingJr., had this ability to channel the right words, and will forever be remembered for how he did this so powerfully in his “I have a dream” speech for the March on Washington in 1963.

I think I knew that he wrote most of the script for this speech in the wee hours the night before, but when I read the book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant, I learned something amazing that I hadn’t known about him: that MLK had this flexibility about the whole thing, he was fluid until he stepped on the stage, and it was only when someone from the audience kept yelling out “tell them about the dream” that he decided to draw upon his experience, forego his planned script, and deliver his heart’s message instead – the one we didn’t know we asked for when someone called out “tell them about the dream” – the one the collective needed to hear, the pinnacle of his calling.

What a lesson in the power of knowing… trusting the unscripted (yet fully prepared) self, channeling this connection, precisely to arrive at your purpose.

There are many ways to honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. To recognize injustice and racism today is to listen to communities that need help; to allow them to help define our role. To expand upon the movements of the past. To notice where we each could be doing more, and then do it.

Watch MLK’s “I Have a Dream”



Watch Originals author Adam Grant’s Ted Talks

 

The reason we’re in business

When people ask me about what we do here at Waxing Poetic, I talk about the look of the jewelry for sure, but most often, I start with the “why” behind the jewelry.

At the time I cast the first wax seal back in 2001, the feeling that it evoked seemed to symbolize a somewhat forgotten and much needed form of communication. It was a time-honored, sacred and personal way to mark something - a way to bridge the gap between the old and new; between moments and milestones; between people; between meaning and adornment. Something lasting, something true, not a fad or trend. As our company evolved, these little pieces gave way to larger expressions… reminders, both in process and form, of so many things we hold dear, but also of our collective experience, and our connection to each other: we realized, even as product combinations take on as many forms as there are individual people, that we are the through line in life. We truly are one, in all of our beautiful facets. We are all poetic by nature, and these pieces are extensions of ourselves.

It is in this range of life experience, through each happening, each moment, each “piece,” that we uncover not only our individual selves, but also a great truth: this is what the human experience is really meant to be, and, incidentally, why we’re in business… to be present to the moments that create our unique lives, and come closer to our unity as a result of noticing it. This is our everything.

We’re in business to celebrate our collective beauty, our truths and the expression of all of it… our journey. We’re in business to deeply understand the world we live in, to live it fully, and to love it that much more.

When we work together, and we connect on this level, we reveal something about ourselves to each other, and this connection makes the world a little smaller (and the moment so very, very beautiful). This is our life, all of us, separately, and together, in bond and magnitude.

We are so grateful to be in this world together, in this business of life, where underneath all of the distractions, problems, and surface concerns, person by person, and piece by piece, we get to grow in love and a continual discovery and understanding of who we really are.

Much joy and love,

Patti

This Precious Life

Patti and her family after evacuating to a friend’s house that is surrounded by water, so they can safely stay close to home and our offices. The sky full of smoke hides the usually brilliant sunset.

As many of you know, we are experiencing a major devastating wildfire here in Santa Barbara, as well as other parts of California. It has displaced so many in our community – thousands have had to evacuate without knowing what will happen to their properties, and some have even lost their homes to the fire.

There is a deep unease, life is thrown into limbo, yet the very disruption is also engendering a deep connection among us – an understanding of what it means to be a community.

December here is usually a time of celebration, getting together with our loved ones and friends, delighting each other with gifts, and enjoying the season. But the fires here have changed that for us, as we move our families out of harm’s way, wear masks to protect ourselves from the smoke, and live on the edge, not knowing what the future will look like here. In our Waxing Poetic family, we have had several employees who were required to evacuate, including my family, and several more who may be evacuated over the next few days. We also have friends, customers and vendors who are at risk. We share our angst, fear and hope with each other and have come together to support the larger community.

Though so many things are unknown, what we do know is that we are being given yet another opportunity to choose love over fear. Love, and our connection to it in the most divine sense, and to each other, is the truth we all are moving towards. In being faced with losing our homes, the lives we have come to know, we are given the freedom to release ourselves from our past, from who we think we are, and instead, embrace the here and now, who we are, and who we might become. We are hopefully able to wake up so that we may not squander this precious life, but instead show each other that we matter, that all of this matters, all living things, as we all are so dependent on each other in order to live.

Thank you to our incredibly strong, caring and resilient community; to the firefighters, the heroes and heroines, all of us who are facing these disasters who continue to shine their light on the situation to help others. We pray for everyone’s safety. As the fires become more contained, will be working with local organizations to lend a hand, rebuild and rediscover this beloved spot on earth that we are so grateful to call home.

With gratitude,

Patti

Photo taken yesterday by our friends at Pacific Health Foods, right around the corner from our offices. Photo of the ridgeline of Carpinteria, taken last evening from our sanctuary at Sandyland Cove.

A Mother’s Thanks

Amidst the many extreme challenges our world is facing, sometimes we don’t feel so “Happy, happy, happy” as the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is supposed to make us feel.

Yet even so, there are still so many things to be thankful for.  Our resilience. Our faith. Our friends and family. And still sometimes the darkness can seem overwhelming. Oh my, there is so much. Yet I am hopeful that we are being taught on this path of evolution… to come together in the face of so much adversity. As George Harrison sang “with every mistake, we must surely be learning."

So much to write on this. But later. This year my focus is elsewhere. When something life-threatening happens to someone we love, everything else falls silently into the background, and we realize (I sure did) how precious the life is that we share together.

Writing this, I write as a mother, to share a little about the event that drowned the world around me out and shook me to my core.

Last November, our daughter Lulu was getting sick. It was unexplained, and after several urgent care visits, we ended up in the emergency room.  I will never forget the horrible, helpless feeling of my heart sinking when the ER doctor came in the room and said “Mom, can I speak to you outside?”

Our then 6-year old daughter had a condition that required us to helicopter her to Los Angeles, where she could get the care our smaller hospital couldn’t provide.  John flew with her and I drove down to the LA Children’s Hospital nearly hysterical - my friend Jen on the phone with me, trying to keep me focused all the way down. John and Lulu were met by the medical team on the helipad and Lulu was brought directly into the ICU.

After many tests and 5 days and nights at the hospital Lulu seemed strong enough to go home. A month later Lulu was in surgery. Hour after hour, alongside my husband and Lulu’s Grandmother, Mimi, I deeply meditated on her coming through, sending her light, asking God to guide her surgeon’s hands, praying for her and not knowing what the outcome would be (I can barely write these words without tears).  Moms (and Dads) who have been through something like this, I know you understand. I know most everyone can.

This little girl…. She made it through, and we made it through, bolstered by the prayers and love of our community, forever altered by what happened.

So here we are, transformed by heartache, uncertainty, pain, trauma and the big love. Today, if we can stay present to each other and to this gift of life, each sunrise, each mess, each hug, each baking session, each laugh, each sunset is one more that we have together, together…  John, Lulu and I are still here, together.

In my little family, we hug a little harder these days.  Within these hugs lies the energy and love of everyone who helped Lulu get better, and our friends and family, and our larger community who helped us cope along the way.  I am humbled and grateful to realize the gifts you have given us.

Wishing you all the great joys of finding and being in the present moment, and a deeply Joyful Thanksgiving together with those we love,

Patti

A Thankful Poem from Patti

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you

for being,

Thank you for noticing,

Thank you for seeing our metaphoric light signal &

Blinking back brightly –

Thank you for showing your hearts,

for sharing your joys and celebrations,

Thank you for telling us your stories, For taking risks

For never ceasing to inspire us

For holding space for wonder,

for making room for the poignant & particular,

For validating the inexplicable pull certain words have

for seeing

symbols and sentiments as brave beacons

avenues towards something brighter and truer than

one might normally imagine

for seeing

for being

For celebrating the journey in many different forms

For understanding what it is we are trying to share with the world

And for making it more understandable by sharing yourselves

For tiny moments of brilliant sparkles

cherished memories, victories of varying scale

stories with heart, with cheers and tears (more times than we can count)

For keeping Faith + Friendship feisty displays of

Sisterhood

Motherhood

Daughterhood


Cousinhood

Loved-ones-hood


all the other words that aren’t yet ready

For trying out, for coming back, for being braver

For giving us more reasons to make more reasons

 
For you, for you, for you

(we are thankful)

Patti Shares Her Journey & Meaning of Being an Entrepreneur

In celebration of entrepreneur month, we asked Patti to share her journey as an entrepreneur and what it means to her.

It starts with a dream.

Entrepreneurship is a deep connection with the dream state, a curiosity about life and how things work, and very intuitive for me.  I can’t resist channeling new ideas, and then acting on the best of those ideas to contribute to the world… to move things forward in some meaningful way, to create something that wasn’t there before… something that brings value, meaning, and delight to others.

Paying attention.
Paying attention to my inner life is important. Waxing Poetic first came to me (quite in an “a-ha moment”) as a very simple idea that just wouldn’t go away: a small, iconic jewelry design that represented so much more than the form it took. I knew it was a great idea that had never been done before. It aligned with my beliefs.  I didn’t know where it was going exactly, but I knew that I had to bring it to life.

You have an idea, then what?

You go all in. This is the hard part, but the reverse side of that coin is that it is thrilling. When you believe in yourself, when you have some support (for me, it was my husband, sister and parents) and when you have talent and drive, innately you know that you can get there, so you put everything you have into making it happen. If you keep going, you simply can’t fail.

And sleepless nights?   

Yes. I have had more than my fair share of sleepless nights, sure, but all-in-all, I wake up and can’t wait to get to work.  The hard parts inherent in bringing a new idea to life will test you, but will also show you what you are made of.

Why take such risks?

In my experience, an idea needs to be developed to a certain point before others will join you.    When I have a gut instinct that something has huge potential, but others are not convinced yet, I will often just go ahead and start developing it.  If it fails, I have only myself to blame.  But if it starts “going,” this is usually when other people will want to join in. To me, the rewards usually always outweigh the risks (even though risk can bring you right to the edge testing your limits like you have never done before).  Knowing what you are made of, what “could have been,” why something failed, and ultimately having success, being able to share that success and doing some good in the world: these things are like gold to an entrepreneur… gold that is more valuable than some of the things you had to give up to get there.

Talk about fear.

Fear can be the most useful compass that points the entrepreneur towards innovation.  My process for dealing with fear is to try to greet it head-on, and then alchemize it into innovation. In business, if you are not afraid, you may be stagnating.  If I am fearful at all, I know I am onto something challenging and ultimately rewarding.   All entrepreneurs want to create the wonderful, “never-before” from their extraordinary gifts.  That is the point really, so a big “thank you” to fear is in order!

Talk about failure.

Failure to me is a two-fold gift: it is a great teacher, and it is a great transformer.  If someone hasn’t failed, they haven’t tried.  There is that great saying about “you miss 100% of the shots you never take.” I love that.  Take the shots, don’t be afraid to fail.  Learn, refine, and keep taking more shots.  Failures put into action are often transformed into winning shots.

What is the best business advice you’ve ever received?

My dad is a former NFL football player, and early on he told me “keep your head down, and keep running until you hear the glass shatter.”  I don’t think he meant the “glass ceiling,” but just to play your own game, be focused, and keep moving toward your goal.  But I love that for me, it also means owning my ambition, and continually and unapologetically moving towards breaking some new ground for women as a female business owner.

Advice for other entrepreneurs?

  There will be times when other people don’t. That is okay, do it for yourself.
Pay attention to your dreams.  This is where the magic happens. Channel those dreams into action.
Don’t listen to people who don’t get what you are doing.  Until you show them, they might not understand. Be okay with that. Keep going.

Don’t look for the answers “out there.” Operate from the inside out.  Don’t let external people or forces sway you from your mission.

Learn the lessons. Building a business is full of S curves. Learn from both the upticks and downturns.

Invest your time in people. Share yourself and your business with others.

Have integrity in everything you do.

Don’t try to over-control outcomes. Trust in the unknown. What comes of it might be better than anything you could have imagined.
SHARE YOUR STORY

“You have been my friend…” Meet the Poetic Pooches

“Why did you do all this for me?' he asked.
'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.'
'You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.” 
― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

The Waxing Poetic gang thought we’d share photos of our Poetic Pooches with you all in celebration of National Dog Week, along with a pledge:

We pledge to give our dogs extra rubs, hugs, walks, fetch sessions,
treats and LOVE this week,
and let them up on the bed,

and give them an extra bath or massage session,

and some delicious scraps,
and why not always…
we do indulge them,
after all,
they have been our friends,
and that is a tremendous thing.

Founder and Creative Director Patti with Georgia, 8 year old German Shorthaired Pointer. Georgia likes to sunbathe, chase tennis balls, and accompany her people on hikes and adventures of all sorts.  She has a recognized “master nose,” and can sniff out anything, anywhere, even in the dark!  Her nicknames are Animals of Love, Person, and The Nibbletron.

More of our Poetic Pooches

We’d love to see you and your tremendous friends.  Post a photo and tag it #poeticpooches and help us celebrate some of the best love we will ever know on this earth! See more of pooches on pinterest.