The other morning I woke up to an email in my inbox from Emily at Wholesale in a Box titled 4 Reminders for Days When It All Seems Pointless. Honestly, I was going to read the post, but later in the day since I tend to get distracted in the morning and then find myself in an emotional ball at 11 am not having stepped inside the studio yet thinking "What's the point? The day is over anyway...". She sent me a personal email linking the article and thanking me, and I wondered, "Where is this coming from?", so I ended up clicking the article and there started my morning ball of emotions over my morning coffee.
Emily recounted opening an order her husband placed with me for a speckled white mug that she had been wanting for some time. Etan ordered this present for Emily around the holidays, and hoping to create something special and one of a kind for them, I decided to send two mugs that they could both enjoy customized with the letters "E+E" under the handles.
Emily and Etan helped launch my business through their business, Wholesale in a Box, and feeling thankful for their support and confidence in me and my business at a time where I felt like I was a nobody, I wanted to do something that showed my gratitude. Emily wrote, in a beautiful way, something that was so meaningful to me and made me overwhelmed with appreciation:
Nestled in the newspaper are, indeed, two mugs with a sweet “E+E” stamped under the handles. They’re gorgeous. And bigger than we expected. And feel just right in your hand. I immediately start crying. They’re just mugs, of course. But the combination of Etan’s thoughtful gift and Gopi’s creative, lavish generosity and the loveliness of the mugs themselves -- plus the affirmation of the value of what we do in our business -- it just all meant so much. And, in the months following, every time we use our mugs we feel that same gratitude, groundedness, and joy, just in using them.
It sounds crazy to me that something I make has such a profound impact on another person, but hearing this from Emily made me tear up. There are so many days that I have no idea what I am doing or I ponder why I am doing what I am doing. Then I receive an email or comment like this, and everything comes into place. I haven't met Emily or Etan (I'm hoping to this summer!), but I almost feel like they already know me. We have this intimate relationship through something I created with my hands that they use and hold every day. And that is why I do what I do.