Curiosity, exploration, adventure, inquisitiveness, experimentation - all lead to a massively interesting life filled with wonder and excitement. As long as you remain curious, you're never bored. I owe all of my adventures and love of learning to my undying curiosity. I think I could go on and on about why I love and value my curiosity so much, but I’ll just start with these four benefits below.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill
The term GENEROSITY usually brings about images of money and giving to charitable organizations, but that’s not all generosity is about. I absolutely believe in being generous with one’s money and other resources like time, energy, experience, knowledge, skills, etc - but I think generosity can be expanded upon.
So often, we spend far too much of our lives trying to fit in - to be normal. We go with the flow and neglect what makes us different because we’re afraid OR we go the opposite route. We do all kinds of crazy outlandish things in an effort to say, “I’m not like anyone else - I’m weird - I’m special.” I’ve definitely been guilty of both paths in my life - and neither left me feeling fulfilled.
“Jack of all trades, Master of None”
Ever head that before? Well I’m calling total shenanigans.
The Classy Hippie was born from a life-long struggle with that phrase and society’s obsession with telling all of us to pick one thing - because we can’t possibly be or do more than one thing.
Well, frankly, that’s a load of crap. You aren’t one thing, you don’t have to do one thing & you can be and do all the things. Yes. It’s true.
When it comes to life, I seek living in harmony over finding balance - finding the rhythm for each season I’m in. Life isn’t about creating equal space and attention for every area in your life, it’s more about approaching the different areas that overlap and flow from one into the next in a harmonious way. It's about realizing when to push through and when to stop and rest.
It feels like it's taken a lifetime to get here, but I'm overjoyed that this day has arrived! I have thoroughly enjoyed this process, the ups and the downs, the moments of clarity and confusion, the inspiration and the blocks. I loved // love building this brand from scratch, not just the visuals, but the intangibles - the voice, the values, the beliefs, the services, the mission - and I can't wait to keep going, to keep clarifying and building on The Classy Hippie and the people it's here to serve.
Take a look below at the various visual components as well as a peak into my design process. I hope you enjoy!
"Branding" isn't really a thing.
What? Isn't that what you do?
Wellll, not technically. Let me explain...
A brand is a noun - it's a thing. You can't do "brand-ing" or "brand" a company because it's not a verb, not in this sense anyways. However, it's currently the most recognizable term in our culture and market for what brand designers actually do, so for the time being, it's what we have to use. A more accurate term for what we're doing would be identity design.
Debt. Most of us have it - in fact, according to a 2015 American Household Credit Card Debt Study, the average household with any of the following types of debt has $15,762 in credit card debt, $168,614 in mortgage debt, $27,141 in car loans and $48,172 in student loans - and an average of $130,922 TOTAL DEBT PER AMERICAN HOUSEHOLD! That. Is. NUTS.
In 2015, there were about 124.6 million American households - so if we're talking strictly averages here, that works out to over $16 TRILLION in debt! Think of what we as Americans could do for ourselves, our families, our country, our world if that wasn't the case! What if we wanted more than just bigger and better STUFF?!?
It's June 2016 and that means it’s been three years since I started taking control of my finances. It feels like a life-time ago, I can’t even believe it’s only been three years! Since that time we’ve paid off over $40,000 - $30,000 of which was last year alone. So, that right there should clue you in on the fact that changing your life financially, or in any area, doesn’t happen overnight.
So, I want to take you back, back to the beginning of where I believe my money troubles started and hopefully my story can help at least one person out there re-route their mindset // behavior and start to move in the right direction.
For More Insights Into Living Intentionally
