Good morning! I hope you had a great weekend. I thought about doing work the last few days, but decided it was in my best interest to give myself a break. So here I am rested and ready for some exciting projects happening this week. I’ll fill you in on them as they come up. And I’ll give you a hint: one project involves the first ever Jess LC giveaway on MakeunderMyLife.
Intentional Messages
I’d like to take a moment and ask for your input and help on making my summer collection of Jess LC jewelry. In the past, I have always wished I could make my message a bit more connected to the designs I create. And I’m delighted to say that this is now becoming a reality. I have a new collection debuting later this year that involves intentional messages on jewelry. And after hearing all of the intentions many of you made in your 2010 future letters, I’m sure there might be some intentions you’d like to be reminded of throughout the year.
To create the best selection of phrases for this new collection which actually have meaning for you, I’d like to create an ongoing conversation here on the blog. We can start by brainstorming message ideas and then come back in a week or two and vote on which phrases strike a chord with the most people.
To help get the ideas flowing, here are a few messages I’ve thought of already:
- Compassion
- Be present
- Live with gratitude
- Integrity
If you like any of these messages and would consider wearing one of them on a piece of jewelry as a reminder, please comment and let me know. Or, if you have your own message (three words or less), please share that as well. I would like to eventually narrow down the phrases to just six.
Thank you for your thoughts, I really appreciate your involvement with this project!
January 18th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Hey Jess.
I’m Maddelaine from Italy. I was reading your post and it got me thinking. There is one message I take with me everywhere. I have a small and hidden Ivy tatoo. It’s a symbol of persistance. It’s meant to remind me not to give up and to keep going towards my goals. I’d wear a “Persistance” bracelet for luck and courage. Hope that was useful.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:11 am
hmmmm… I am going to be thinking about this one, it is SUCH a great idea!
January 18th, 2010 at 11:49 am
Life is Beautiful…a reminder that at all times (good or bad) life is and will be okay
January 18th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I like “Be Present.” Its a nice reminder to stay in the present and focus on what’s happening now.
How about “Go With All Your Heart” or “Be Brave”?
January 18th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Patience! I could’ve used the reminder this weekend when my husband was away – leaving me alone (8 months pregnant) with our 2 year old!
January 18th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Writing on jewelry (beyond a nice inscription on a wedding ring or a locket) — well…it just doesn’t do it for me. Instead, I buy things that represent something.
For example, I hate the brass rat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_class_ring) – they’re huge, bulky, and I would never wear one. So – in order to commemorate passing my qualifying exams, I ended up buying an owl necklace (Athena is the closest “Greek God” mascot we have here, and her sign is the owl). It’s a lot more meaningful to me, and I tend to wear it whenever I’m having a rough time — to remind me that I can do it!
One of the ways you might be able to incorporate this is through the flower language (http://www.languageofflowers.com/) I know your designs tend to be on the simpler side, but if you gave a given necklace a particular name (the Calendula, meaning joy) — that could be a subtle reminder to the wearer about why they chose that necklace.
(remember—this is just me. I’m not meaning to criticise, but instead put it out there that there are other ways to inject meaningful reminders into your daily life)
January 18th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
I was making a collage of words to represent 2010 for me, and while there are many that inspire me, one that I particularily love is
simply the word “grace”.
January 18th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Here are a few I can think of…
“Be the change…” I love the phrase, “be the change you want for the world” – I love that it directly speaks to action (not just thoughts or ideas)
“Go for it…” this is so simple and almost cheesy, but it’s so true – don’t we need a little angel standing on our should to just give us a little push now and then?
“fly”… would be another one, this one more personal – I don’t know if others would like it as much, but just the reminder to take the leap of faith and grow wings while doing it.
Can’t wait to see the final product!
January 18th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
What I’d wear: “Let it go.” or “Keep Calm”
January 18th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Move Forward….I am trying to tell myself this all month.
January 18th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Be Present definitely strikes a chord with me. Like another comment-er I don’t often where anything with words on it but if it was subtle & I knew that it was there I would really like that message as a reminder. I’ll try to be creative & think of some other phrases to add to conversation…but i can’t make any promises
January 18th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Be Present definitely strikes a chord with me. Like another comment-er I don’t often wear anything with words on it but if it was subtle & I knew that it was there I would really like that message as a reminder. I’ll try to be creative & think of some other phrases to add to conversation…but i can’t make any promises, in the pool of creativity I’m trapped on the shallow end.
January 18th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Maybe something as simple as With Intention. That way it could mean something different from day to day and/or serve as support to all of our intentions.
January 18th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
I like the ones you thought of. I also love “believe” and/or “possibility” (as in believe in the possibility). “Just believe” is cool too. Hope it helps!
January 18th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
I have a necklace that says “inspire.” I bought it when I started teaching. It gives me good energy.
Since you are a make-under site, “simplify” might be nice too.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
I like Be Present.
Other ideas: Ground and Center, Focus, Simply with Intention, Just Be, I Am, With Gratitude
January 18th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
I love this idea and I love the past peoples comment about “life is beautiful” and “be present” I would wear something like that. Keep up the amazing work, you’re so inspiring!
January 18th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I really like
“Compassion” !
I also like the idea of “Let go” ; it can have so many meanings for different people, but it’s something most of us have to do from time to time!
January 18th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
I’d love to see “say yes.” or “yes”!
January 18th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
This is a great idea! How about inspiration? or let it be? Can’t wait to see what you pick! Love your jewelry
January 18th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Faithful- an important quality for a variety of reasons (relationships, friendships, virtuous living)
Joy- evokes a stronger emotion than “happy”
January 19th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Love this idea and would definitely wear something like what you’re talking about. My intention for the new year is to live intentionally and simply, so how about: Live simple.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:16 am
This is the moment; Live in it.
This is the moment; Live
January 19th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
“Be Strong” or “Strength” because there are always moments in life when we have to remember to stand strong. This year I’ve decided to strengthen my values, body, and soul.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Jess! This is a fantastic idea. It really gets the gears turning.
Here are a few I thought of:
Something a dear friend has taught me to live by–
*Look within*
– it teaches you to look at the beauty inside and to be introspective.
Live.Love.Cherish.
I can’t wait to see where this takes you.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
What a great idea and it really has my wheels spinning. Balance comes to my mind because it’s something I constantly strive for. In our fast-paced world, it’s important to find balance among all the things that are important to us – family, career, activities, faith, etc. Good luck with your quest to find the perfect 6.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Baba Ram Dass “Be Here Now”
January 19th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
i would like to wear: “keep calm & carry on” “be the change” “risk it all” any of those would be great!..i think
January 19th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
I love this idea!
here are some of my ideas: passion, truth,
жизнь (this means LIFE in Russian. I love the way it looks in Russian. This is also my best friend’s tattoo idea. )
January 19th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
“Love Always”
Because it is something I always hope to have, give and receive. Something that there is never enough of.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:12 am
Congratulations on your first birthday! Loved your thoughts on single-tasking. My intentional message is “just say yes!” (I need to stop cocooning and get myself out there. Thinking of someone besides myself might be a good tonic for these trying times.)
January 20th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Loved your post about uni-tasking. I am striving for doing one task at a time. Messages that I would wear on a piece of jewelry are: Hope, Follow your heart, or Follow your bliss
January 20th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Hi, I’ve put these on the other post but I wanted to submit them here too!
‘achieve balance’
‘don’t worry, be happy’
‘om’
‘live and learn’
‘just me & you’ and
‘be true’
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I would truly wear and live this phrase with intention, as I am already doing so:
“Make a Difference”.
I lost my step-father, and my father most recently last September, to a highly-aggressive form of brain cancer. I am now volunteering with The Chris Elliott Fund for Glioblastoma Brain Cancer Research (soon to be endbraincancer.org) As well, I’m donating 20% of all of my Ebay sales to this organization. I am determined to make a difference even in my own small way… I’m learning that we all can “Make a Difference.”
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Hi Jess,
Congrats on your blog anniversary! It really is one of my favorites!
As much as I like “Love” “Faith” “Hope”
I think that those words on pendents are very inspiring but kind of overdone. I can’t think of many words/ phrases right now but I do have an idea. Would you kindly consider hearing me out, if you can would you please message me via email?
(p.s. I fight for peace, not the peace. =p )
I like:
breathe, free, this moment, this, chance.
Again I have a few ideas ideas that I’d think you’d really like, maybe we could work together? =]
Thanks so much for your time!
March 27th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
I just found your site through google. Love the info!