Summer Sneak Peak: 2018
I frequently get asked why I chose a certain quote or author. How I found it, what stuck out to me, and so on.
My answer is always the same. That every quote that has struck me, I have found in a different way. I have found quotes from searching the internet for hours, to reading books, or hearing a great movie line that inspires me to look up a quote that is similar. Family, friends and customers send them to me as well. All in all, there is no set way I have found them, but each quote does have its own special unique meaning and story to me.
Most recently, I have been working on our new Summer releases for 2018. When finalizing a new line, I am oddly selective in the quotes I use. It matters to me what the words suggest, who said it, when they said it and so on. I can read a quote and instantly fall in love or pass it by and it resurfaces later on. Again, there really is no set rule in how I choose quotes for products.
However, one of our new quotes for our summer line has one of my favorite stories in how I have come to use it. The quote is by Henry Ward Beecher, "The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things."
Now, let me quickly tell you the story. I have a habit of taking a screen shot of every quote, saying, topic, I come across so I have it on my desktop to remind me for later. Because I have this habit, my desktop gets very crowded. My employees think its a nightmare, I call it organized chaos. Now, I will be honest and say that the chaos makes me crazy often, so I occasionally completely clean out my desktop, deleting quotes that I just don't think are right for the company right now. However, I always keep my lower lefthand corner compiled with quotes I just simply can't part with. About 6 months ago I hit the breaking point and realized I had not cleaned it out for a good year and a half and decided it was time. While sorting through, I realized I kept coming across this same quote. Pile after pile I cleaned out, it resurfaced and resurfaced. I thought it was worth keeping around so decided to keep it along with about 4 others.
I went on to design my Winter line and debated whether or not to use the quote. I usually come to the conclusion that if it is that hard of a decision, it is not the right timing, so I passed it by, yet again. By this point, it had been a good two years this quote sat on my computer and resurfaced while I searched for quotes. It was almost as if it was saying, "Hey, remember me, I'm still here!"
Most recently, I passed up the quote again for our Spring line, yet Summer came along and could not stop thinking about it. I debated if it was a quote that could work on a shirt, if it was too long, if the message made sense with our other quotes, really having this internal battle. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I would be working on designs or simply driving in my car and these words kept running words through my mind.
"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things." -Henry Ward Beecher
I finally realized it was time!
I believe I never let this quote go for a reason. For the past two years, I believe it was because I needed the message. I find I am drawn to words I need at that time. While running Soul Honey as a young female entrepreneur, there are great highs and low low's, yet this quote has continued to be a great reminder that my own happiness should not be found in my successes and lost in my failures, yet found in the common things. The moments in between that make our life great.
For me, these common things have been starting my day with a great workout, hearing my niece laugh, selling a product that touches people, having an old friend visit I hadn't seen in a year, nights walks with my parents, coming across a killer quote, green tea (and lots of it!), being able to bless a stranger and so on.
I'm convinced we would be much happier individuals if we focused on the things we do have, rather than the things we don't. The things that went right, instead of the things that went wrong. But maybe more importantly, following what the quote says, "extracting happiness from the common things".
I am so excited about this quote, this message and the reminder it is for me daily. Here at Soul Honey we believe good words inspire. That is exactly what Henry Ward Beecher's words did for me. My hope is that this quote does the same for you!
Coming soon in our 2018 Summer releases!
As always, thanks for reading. Soul Honey would not be here without you!
xx,
Abby
Founder and CEO of Soul Honey