Waste Not Wear Are You?!
Boy, what a week. What a summer. What a YEAR.
WHAT A ROLLER COASTER.
I keep reminding myself; Good things are coming. Good things are happening. Good things are here!
This summer has been harder than we imagined. I have shed more tears than I'd like to admit (Nothing wrong with tears but, my God get ahold of yourself, Marilla) and learned a lot about where my strength lies and how I handle stress.
Here are a few takeaway's thus far.
1. It's ok to ask for help.
2. Hydration is key and just because you're stressed doesn't mean your body stops needing water...
3. Routines are extremely hard to maintain when you're life is being flipped upside down and that's ok. There's always tomorrow.
As most of you know last week we shared that we have to change our name and that was an emotional rollercoaster. In a way it felt good to be able to share what we've been dealing with all summer and on the other hand, the tidal wave of kindness and empathy and encouragement was almost hard. It was a reminder that this IS indeed sad and seeing our customers process the loss of "The Waste Not Shop" name brought the loss factor back to the surface for me.
Now don't get me wrong, I am processing it and I know in my heart of hearts that we will be fine because I have faith that this will work out. With that being said it's been harder than I expected to watch the last of our Waste Not Shop totes, t-shirts, bags, and other merch walk out the door for the last time. While I know that our shop is more than a name, I can't help but look at our cute little logo and name and feel a little sad saying goodbye to it for good. That name was our eureka moment a few years ago in our tiny apartment. That name has become a saying between customers. That name has become "The Waste Not Warriors". Little by little It has represented our groceries, rent, and household expenses being paid for with hard work. It's been our baby for the last few years and it simply feels weird renaming your baby after it's started to grow up.
With all the hustle and bustle of spreading the news, answering questions, and trying to prepare for the unknown, I sometimes forget to stop and look around. One customer reminded me to take some snapshots of this time before the rebrand to remember the kindness and that's stuck with me. Since then I have managed to snap a few photographs of the last few bits of "Waste Not Shop" Merch before it goes out the door. Sometimes it's easier to switch into business mode and I forget that I might want some of these memories to look back on so I'm thankful for the folks who have reminded me to stop every now and again and be still in a moment or snap a pic.
In the days to come we'll be talking more and more about our NEW NAME and less and less about the Waste Not Shop. I'm excited for this adventure of course but in today's blog I wanted to take a minute with our old name and appreciate all the joy and love and fun that has gone into making it. Thanks for letting me process this with you and thanks for sticking with us on this crazy ride!
Before I wrap this up I'm wondering where all the "Waste Not" merch may be...It makes me smile to think it'll still be out there and my final ask for this blog post is if you have a t-shirt or a bag, or a sticker, or any of our branded merch, could you send us a picture with it? We would LOVE to see you repping our little brand one last time as we get ready to move on to the next chapter of our little low waste shop.
Ever grateful, Ever hopeful, and SLIGHTLY emotional,
Marilla
