An Abundant Life - Writing With Fire

I met Bill Blast at Gary Lichtenstein Editions at Mana Contemporary last year. He is famous, or rather I should say his work is, because there is something I've discovered about Bill, that although his iconic images are known world over and there are collectors who have sought out his pieces, he is the type of person who is so quiet about who he is and the work that he does that unless you are introduced to him by someone like Gary Lichtenstein or Melissa Marr who is the Director of Operations at Gary Lichtenstein Editions, you might not find out just exactly how famous his work is unless you take the time to talk with him over time and even then you might not fully understand unless you started doing your research.

I happen to be someone who loves street art and graffiti, but I'm in no way an expert at it. I don't know who everyone is, I just know what I like, and I love Bill Blast's work and loved it at first sight. After I was introduced to him, I did take the time to talk with him, and then I started to find out a bit more, but it was only after meeting him a few times that I started to really understand the scope of his years of work, and even then I was only getting glimpses. He has a history of having his images be a part of some of the most memorable scenes and places, but like the history of street art, some of his earliest work, though memorialized on film and video, has been long gone, painted over, covered over or in some cases torn down when buildings came down or parks were renovated. Street art and the whole culture around it has always had a quality that was ephemeral, though in its scope and impact it is extremely powerful. Visually colorful, vibrant, and many times larger than life, the paintings created on the walls of buildings, subway cars and tunnels tell stories that span lifetimes and continents and worlds beyond the stars. Graffiti Artists often refer to their work as Writing, and though there are many ways that they write, including tagging their names, they also are writing stories in the images, telling their own history, the history of cultures, a neighborhood, lives lived and lives lost.

William "Bill Blast" Cordero has been exhibiting his artwork internationally since the age of nineteen. A New York City native, he attended the High School of Art and Design and Parsons School of Design. From his earliest days as a professional Artist, his work was commissioned for outdoor projects in New York, Boston, and Detroit, and his work has been exhibited at the Galerie Yaki Kornbilt in Amsterdam, at Museum Boymans in Rotterdam, at Gallozzi La Placa and Fun Gallery in New York City, and at Boston University. He has also been commissioned to produce large scale murals for WCVB-TV, the ABC network Affiliate in Boston; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and "Art Train" a traveling museum currently located in Detroit. He was a designer and consultant for Harry Belafonte's film, "Beat Street", and his work is also part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Recognized as one of the greatest New York Graffiti writers of the 1980's, in 1982 he painted two walls on either side of a handball court on West 99th Street and Amsterdam Avenue that was known as "Rock Steady Park" because at the time it was a popular practice location for Rock Steady Crew. The two murals, lost when the area was remodeled, are considered to be masterpieces. "Sky's The Limit" referenced the lyrics of Keep On by D-Train and depicted New York City landmarks in an urban setting, while his vibrant piece Eye Of The Tiger was on the facing wall. After years of risk taking, tagging metro trains or walls, he began to work on canvas. Since 1986 he has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Joan of Arc Scool in New York. He was awarded a Grant from the New York City Arts Council to work with students at the school to produce large-scale murals dealing with pressing social issues which affect today's urban youth.

To have the opportunity to see the work of an Artist with the history and talent of Bill Blast is an opportunity of a lifetime. To meet him is a rare pleasure. He's one of those epically gifted visionaries whose work transcends the times and spaces where he creates, and he is humble as so many of the greatest Artists are. There are times when I am speaking with him that I feel like there's a very low burning flame just under the surface, behind his calm exterior, flickering behind his eyes. It's the kind of fire that flickers while it burns at the hottest point of the coals. When I look at his work, it's that constant flame I'm seeing, and it's the reason that his work is so beautiful and so powerful. There's something burning in Bill Blast that won't stop, and it's lighting the way for us all.

William "Bill Blast" Cordero

https://williamblastcordero.com/

At Gary Lichtenstein Editions

At Mana Contemporary

888 Newark Avenue

Jersey City, New Jersey

Iconic Murals And Images

Photographs Courtesy Of William "Bill Blast" Cordero

"Eye Of The Tiger"

Rock Steady Park, 1982

"Keep On"

Rock Steady Park, 1982

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Peace, Joy and Light

Earlier this year I wrote about a beautiful perfume I had the opportunity to try when I was invited to the launch of Amorem Rose at The Pierre New York. It was a very special evening, and I had no idea at the time that it would be one of the last evenings of its kind before life as we knew it changed very quickly into a world with closed and shuttered public spaces, shops and restaurants, and one that was filled for many people with a feeling of chaos, fear and darkness. I had known at the time when I met her that Shalini was very special herself and that the event was a blessing, but as the days progressed and more sad and discouraging news continued to arrive, I started to get lovely messages from Shalini that she wanted to get the word out to people that another perfume that I had experienced on the night of the launch for Amorem Rose had been created with ingredients that were chosen because of their healing properties of Golden Light. Paridis Provence uses the scents of Orange, Lavender and Thyme in a blend that is both warming and soothing, bringing a glow that is like the light of love, peace and joy. Shalini suggested that I wear it close to my heart and let its healing light rise up and infuse the air around me, and the description is so lovely that it feels like a part of a prayer to wear it that way.

Perfume has a history of being sacred and precious, and the oils are not only purifying but can create a sense of well being through their aromatherapeutic properties if they are blended with care as Shalini's perfumes are. Hand crafted by Master Perfumer Maurice Roucel, each blend is its own special treasure, and as with all great perfumes, they take on and develop a unique character from the person who wears it. As I have worn Paradis Provence over time, I have started to look forward to the way each note begins to unfold, beginning with the Orange and raising scents of lavender and thyme combining and creating almost a chamber music of scents with each note at times blending completely and at times wafting out for their own virtuoso solo.

As I wrote before, Shalini has a background as a Haute Couture Designer, and with her perfumes she has created a line of Haute Perfumes. Presented in Lalique Crystal Flacons and available at Harrods Salon De Parfum and Bergdorf Goodman, the usual descriptions of fine perfumes apply, such as timeless, elegant and luxurious, but there is something more that comes to mind when I experience Shalini Perfumes. When I wrote about Amorem Rose, I described the combination of both the depth of the feeling of love and its lightness and joy that the perfume is based on. With Paradise Provence, there is a feeling of richness and depth and mellowness that in a way is reminiscent of a fine old cognac or a Grande Dame champagne, but there is also a lightness and a purity that makes this a perfume that can be worn daily, with just a touch, or used more liberally to not only scent the physical body but also the air and aura around it.

A perfume like Paradis Provence that has been made with such care has not only the beauty of the blend of scents but the beauty of the creators' vision behind it. It can be something to add brightness and warmth of the sun to your day and also help to heal all of the senses by creating a space within the self to focus on the heart and send messages of peace, joy and light through warming notes out into the world.

Paradis Provence

Haute Perfume

From The House Of Shalini 

Created By Master Perfumer Maurice Roucel

https://www.instagram.com/shaliniparfum

 

 

 

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Creative Forces

Last week I wrote about Love & Plenty, a new project that I'm developing to help with the current crisis and beyond as we rebuild our communities into the future. As I mentioned, it is at heart a project to help bring sustainable commerce and community back to our neighborhoods, by focusing on helping restaurants to get funding to provide meals for people in need and to rehire the staff that many have had to let go as a result of being shut down for only takeout and delivery. There are many pieces of this puzzle that are being put into place very carefully to insure that this project is not only helpful but sustainable, and one aspect I mentioned about it that is an important part is that I am also combining Artists, Designers and small businesses into the project, to help promote them and their work and products with a portion of sales being donated to help fund the restaurants to make meals for people in need. A part of that has to involve a larger online presence because of restrictions for public gatherings during this time, and the project needs to incorporate ways that Artists, Designers and small business owners can be introduced to new audiences and meet new people who could be potential customers or clients or who might want to help promote them in some way. This is not a project about asking people for donations of their work or time, though there are some people who have offered to do that as part of their contribution. This is a project about economic development and building sustainable community partnerships, and insuring that people who have worked all of their lives towards a goal have a venue where they can be featured and honored for their skill, hard work and talents.

During this time I have been consulting with professionals from different industries because there are aspects of this project that need input from people with a variety of specific skill sets and knowledge in order for it to be not only successful but sustainable. One person who I always talk to about projects that I am working on is the Artist, Designer, Photographer and Producer Eugene Galles. I have known him for many years and we have worked on many projects together and I have also consulted with him for his professional input on projects that I have been working on that he was not an active part of. He has a wide wealth of knowledge and insight and I rely on his valuable counsel. For many years he lived in New York City, and now he is living in Montecito, California. I have written about him in this blog a few times, as a collaborative Artist on some of my projects in the past; as an Artist, Designer, and Photographer; as an Interior Designer and specialist in midcentury furnishings and lifestyle; and as an inspiration, a mentor and someone I am honored to call a friend.

A few weeks ago he called to ask me if there were any Artists who I knew who would be interested in giving Artist talks via Zoom for the group of people in an Artists' Collective that he belongs to in California. There were several who I could think of who I thought would be interested because I had already been approaching some of the people I know about the Love & Plenty project, and they had told me that they would be open to participating in Artist talks via Zoom calls and other online promotional venues. The idea for that had come from conversations I had early on with him, and also with the Producer Pamela Lubell, and with the Web Designer and Filmmaker Eric Sanchez and his wife the Artist Dana Gambale who I mentioned last week had created the logo for Love & Plenty. Eric had also already offered to help with editing any videos that were created via Zoom, and when I asked him if he would be willing to work with me and Eugene to edit what we were creating, he agreed and suggested that we do a trial run with just the two of us to see what we came up with. I will include that here, and it is also available on YouTube on the Channel for Love & Plenty - Creative Forces that has been created for this part of the project. Eugene interviewed me about the Love & Plenty project, and not only does it give a good concise background about the project and the different parts of it, it shows another skill of Eugene's which I had not seen before now which is his great talent at being a host of a talk show, something that he had done a number of years ago professionally but that I had not had the pleasure to experience because it had been before we met.

Creative Forces is the name of this new video podcast, and we have already interviewed two Artists and have more waiting in the wings. As with everything about this project, I am taking time to make sure that it is working well and everyone is able to be shown in the best light. I have learned over the years that though I might want to rush ahead, there is a treasure to be found in taking things slowly and allowing them to develop in the best way. So for now, here is the video of the interview between Eugene and me about Love & Plenty. There will be more to come of the many Artists, Designers and small business owners involved in this project as well as some surprise guests from time to time. Stay Tuned!

Creative Forces

Episode One

Eugene Galles, Producer

Interview With Jannie Wolff

Founder, Good News Foundation

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

  

An Abundant Life - Love And Plenty

I usually don't write much about myself or the projects I work on, unless they have to do with someone else. Even then, the spotlight leans more in the other direction and I tend to lean out of it whenever possible. I love to be behind the camera, and though I am an actress I prefer to leave my acting life for character roles. But from time to time I find myself in front of the camera and I am comfortable there, so if I need to be there to help promote someone or something else I'll gladly do it.

Because of my background in youth and family development and teaching nutrition and health in the inner city for many years, I knew immediately when shutdowns began to happen that there would be problems beyond illness for people who lost jobs, and that those who were in shelters and going to food pantries and soup kitchens would be hit very hard. When the restaurant shutdown happened in Hoboken, near where I live, I spoke with a friend who has two restaurants there, Chef Anthony Pino, and he had immediately thought the same thing. His restaurants were open for pick up and delivery and he wanted to help the community and make meals for people in need, but he needed the funding to do it, and so I started reaching out to different people to see what might be possible.

When September 11th happened I was living in downtown Manhattan, and because of the work that I have done for many years in public relations and marketing and collaborative events planning with Artists, Designers and small business owners, I started the Downtown Revitalization Project to bring business and a feeling of community back to that area. This current crisis is not only on a larger worldwide scale but also presents the challenge of not being able to bring people physically together. However, with technology we do have the ability to have online events along with the opportunity for a much larger reach, and I’m connecting Artists and Designers and small business owners locally, nationally and internationally into the project and planning an online venue where they can be highlighted, with a portion of proceeds from sales of their work and products to be donated to restaurants for meals. I’m also planning online venues for performing Artists and Musicians such as shows and live-streams that could also be fundraisers.

As I began to reach out to people, I was amazed by the variety of responses. Some people had already begun their own projects or fundraisers, some people responded immediately that they would be happy to help in any way possible. Some people took a while longer to respond, and I realized that many people were in shock because things happened so quickly. By reaching out to others and continuing to update them on my progress and on the things other people were doing I found that people became encouraged to start doing things themselves. It’s been a challenge to keep going because everything is so overwhelming and uncertain, but I have very strong faith, and the beautiful kindness and connection I have been able to find with others through online methods, though physically distant, has been very powerful.

I want to make sure that this project develops in a professional way that is sustainable,  because the future at this point for so many people and businesses is uncertain. By all reasonable estimates, life as we have known it may be profoundly changed for a long while. I have been taking it step by step as I want this project have the ability to help people in the short term and to grow and build into a larger community development project that will help rebuild communities and lives for the long term. In a way I’ve been discovering that the most important thing is the way that connections are being maintained, and that by reaching out to people with an idea of how to support others and help make the world a better place, people are beginning to be inspired to do their own projects and we’re supporting and encouraging each other to find ways to connect and create and share inspiration through social media and other online platforms. I recently did a play with the theater company I have belonged to since I first moved to New York right out of college. All the rehearsals and the performance were done on Zoom. It’s a strange thing for me as an Actor and Playwright to think about not doing this in person, but it worked and we were connecting and creating, and it's given me insight into more ways that I can use this technology to help and inspire others.

My company, the Good News Foundation, does what I do best, connect people and businesses to resources and to each other to raise funds and awareness about community issues and to network and grow community connections. My tag line is Connecting People and Communities, and the foundation of all of the work that I do is based in holistic wellness on the individual and community level. There are times that I feel as if things are going too slowly with this current project because I see how much need there is that is growing exponentially. 36 million people unemployed as of this past week with numbers still growing, children and families going hungry while farmers and ranchers have to throw away unused and unmarketable food and restaurants remain closed because they can't afford to open with only takeout and delivery options or they are too worried about health concerns for themselves, their staff and their families and patrons. But then I'll hear about someone who I shared a resource with who is now feeding their community through a newly developed church meal program, or an Artist who has started to create again because they wanted to do something and didn't realize how important their creativity was until we spoke about it. Chef Anthony Pino in Hoboken started a GoFundMe page, and within the first few days of posting about it he had already delivered 75 healthy and high quality hot meals to the Shelter. I felt so happy when I heard that! Sometimes all people need is someone there to encourage them to do what they have in their heart. As my own project grows, more people keep getting inspired, and they and other people inspire me to keep going too.

An Artist friend, Dana Gambale, created a logo for my project which I’ll share here. The inspiration was the story of Jesus multiplying five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand men plus women and children, with leftovers to spare, and the Old Testament story of the prophet Elisha who helps a poor widow multiply her oil, which is the only thing she has left in her house and she only has a small jar of. Elisha tells her to collect all the empty jars she can get from her neighbors and then to start pouring from her small jar. Only after every jar is filled does the oil run out, giving her enough to share and to sell so that she can not only survive, but because of the preciousness of oil in those days, she can have a comfortable life free from want. After Dana and I brainstormed by text along with some input by Chef Anthony Pino who suggested the ideas of a banquet and abundance, the name “Love and Plenty” came to me. Dana sent me sketches, and as the loaves of bread took shape I started to think about Chef Paul Gerard who has shared recipes with me for a nutrition and health pilot program I designed for a group of parents, children and mentors on Manhattan's Lower East Side. I asked Dana if she could make the bread on the logo look the way he serves it at Antique Bar & Bakery, the restaurant where I met him and where he is Executive Chef and Partner, and I sent her some photographs from the restaurant's Instagram page. And then I asked her to add a dish that looks like one of his, and that’s how this logo came to be.

I had though of Chef Paul Gerard and his food for this logo because there is another part of this project that is very important to me. The reason I had asked him to share recipes with me for the nutrition and wellness workshops I am designing is because I have a very specific vision of the kind of food that I believe everyone should have. On June 17, 2006 I walked into a soup kitchen for the first time. It was in the basement of a church I had just started attending in Manhattan's East Village, and they needed help from volunteers. I hadn't wanted to go. In those days I was newly born again and didn't have the heart I do now. But the first Sunday when I visited the church the week before, the Pastor had announced from the pulpit that they needed more people to volunteer to help. I heard the voice of God saying, "You need to go," and I argued back and forth silently for a while as I sat there listening to the other announcements. But finally, and firmly, God had the last word by saying, "You were almost homeless but for my grace. You're going." And it was true, I knew that only too well. The year before I had lost everything in a business partnership that went very wrong very quickly, and in the process though I found the treasure of God in my life, I had lost everything else including my home. By a hair's breadth I managed to find a place to live, but life at its best was precarious for a long time.

And so I begrudgingly went to help out in the soup kitchen, and on that first day when I walked in and saw the dingy, dirty walls and peeling filthy linoleum, when I smelled and saw the pan of oily white rice with a very few hot dogs cut up and stirred into it that had been made by a woman who, though she wanted to be serving in some capacity was feeling very overwhelmed and very unhappy to be there serving it, I heard the voice of God saying, "Only the best for my children," and that has been my word ever since. God opened doors then that were miraculous, and I helped that soup kitchen and many others over the years to provide healthy and delicious food and a safe environment for people to eat in. The people in that soup kitchen and many of the others where I have worked were the hard core homeless of Manhattan, people who lived on the streets and arrived in all kinds of condition. But to God they are precious, and over the years He has given me the passionate belief that it is not enough to just feed people in need with whatever food is leftover after everyone else has been served. Everyone deserves to have healthy, delicious, fresh food, and when we meet people wherever they are and invite them to the banquet we have been given, that's when lives can be healed and made whole and changed.

Love & Plenty

A Project Of The Good News Foundation

Connecting People And Communities

And Feeding Those In Need

With The Highest Possible Quality Food

Supporting The Arts & Creativity

And Inspiring New Life

Artwork By Dana Gambale

Love Created

Love Delivered

Love Shared

Love Multiplied

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Top Of The Morning

I was planning to write about City Of Saints Coffee Roasters when I first met them in September of 2018. At the time they had opened a pop up cafe at Antique Bar & Bakery in Hoboken, and I was so impressed with the quality of their coffee that I offered to write a blog post. They have another location in Hoboken on 14th Street, and they also have a location in Manhattan and one out in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I had wanted to visit the Brooklyn cafe because that is also a roastery, and so I thought I would wait until I was able to find some time for a visit there before writing the post. But at the time my schedule was very busy, and then one thing led to another and then it was cold and unpleasant winter weather, and the pop up shop at Antique Bar & Bakery ended, and the blog post I had started in my blog stayed in draft form. I didn't want to take it out entirely because I kept thinking that at some point I'd find the time to go out to the Brooklyn cafe, but somehow there never seemed to be any time that seemed the right time and now we find ourselves in the now of very little travel and many shops closed.

In this current time, I'm still writing my blog, though at times it seems odd because though I can do posts remotely, I usually like whenever possible to travel and visit and talk and take photographs, but the other day I did a play on Zoom, something that I never thought I'd ever have the slightest interest in doing, and though it was a challenge, at this point who knows when things will ever get back to the way we used to do them, so I'm forging ahead wherever and whenever I can to keep at least plugging along in creative endeavors and trying to encourage other people that we can and we will make it through this to a better and brighter day.

So I found myself this past week thinking that this was as good a time as any to write about City Of Saints, and though I never did make it out to their Bushwick Cafe, I do still have the lovely memories of their time at Antique Bar & Bakery, and my first delighted impressions of the quality of their coffee then. As a company, they have a mission to be not only sustainable but also to be good neighbors and colleagues and to be community minded, and in a way that's what my blog and my work is about too. As people who know me know, I only write about people and companies and products I truly believe in, and I also try as much as possible to support the people I write about in whatever way I can and to invest my time and efforts in developing relationships that can last and help build community.

My first impression of City Of Saints was of course tinted through the rosy colored glasses that accompany anything that Chef Paul Gerard, a Partner and the Executive Chef of Antique Bar & Bakery does. I know that he allows only the highest quality ingredients and products to be a part of his restaurant, and so I knew that the coffee would be excellent. But something else happened when I tasted it - I was reminded of coffee that I hadn't had in years and that I'd been searching for. When I lived in Manhattan, I used to buy my coffee at a store named Jefferson Market on 6th Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets in the West Village. I loved that coffee so much that I broke it down into how much it cost per day by figuring out the number of pots of espresso I could make out of it because I wanted to justify the added expense in my very tight budget at the time. I usually had their espresso or their French roast, but I also would buy different kinds from time to time to add a little variety to my morning. Jefferson Market closed about ten years ago, and I've been looking for coffee even remotely as good ever since, and when I tasted City of Saints coffee that first day at Antique Bar & Bakery, it reminded me of one of the Kenyan coffees that I had gotten all those years ago. It turns out that it was a similar roast, and that got me thinking back to the first time I had ever started buying my own coffee, when I was at school in Pittsburgh for two years when I first went to college. There was a little shop there in an area called Shadyside which is also the real life home of Mr. Rogers. During those two years I bought all my coffee there and a beautiful ceramic coffee maker with matching cups too, and a friend of mine always insists that it's my cups that make my coffee so good. I think they do, but I also know that it's the coffee that goes into them, and even in a paper to go cup City Of Saints tastes like a hands down winner to me. Their cups are lovely too, a beautiful blue, and if you're lucky enough to stop by in person, they'll make a little artwork to grace your heavenly brew.

City Of Saints
1320 Bloomfield Street
Hoboken, New Jersey
https://www.cityofsaintscoffee.com/

And In 2018 At A Pop Up Cafe
At Antique Bar & Bakery

122 Willow Avenue

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://www.antiquebarbakery.com/

Chef Paul Gerard
Executive Chef And Partner
Of Antique Bar & Bakery
Discussing Pastry Selections
With The Restaurant Pastry Chef
And The Staff Of City Of Saints

 

 

Photographs Courtesy Of Ricardo Vallejo

  

 

 

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Bravery

The first time I saw the inspirational t-shirts that Elizabeth Sites creates under the label declan I was in Bryant Park after brunch during the winter holiday season, taking a stroll around the shops with a friend who was in town who wanted to look at the different artisanal products on display. That particular market is always an excellent one, and as my friend and I turned a corner I saw someone I knew in the crowd and said hello. It was James Hammond, and it turned out that his girlfriend, the lovely Producer Pamela Lubell, who is also a friend, was helping her friend Elizabeth Sites with her booth, and so he took me over to see Pamela and that is the first time I saw the inspirational t-shirts Elizabeth Sites is creating.

That day Pamela told me a bit about Elizabeth and about Declan, Elizabeth's son who the label is named after, and she also told me about the t-shirts themselves and how Elizabeth created the brand because she wanted to bring a sense of love and joy and positive energy into the world and to be able to make a positive impact. There is something so beautiful about the t-shirts and hoodies she's creating, and something that is so powerfully positive. They are all hand crafted and made locally, and whenever possible she is hiring people to do the sewing who can benefit the most from having the income the work provides.

I had been planning on writing about Elizabeth last winter, but time was rushing by and I hadn't found a chance to do it yet. And then one day recently I received a gift package in the mail from Pamela, and there was a declan t-shirt in it. The shirt said "Be Brave", something that along with the fact that it arrived so unexpectedly made me cry. This time we are living in right now is not an easy one, and though I am really fine in every way, I'm not always feeling so brave. But after I had my little cry, I tried on my t-shirt and suddenly I was smiling, and I took my first selfie ever because I wanted to show Pamela and Elizabeth how much I loved wearing the tee.

Declan the brand was started by Elizabeth and named after her son Declan who after a traumatic birth was diagnosed with multiple severe disabilities. But in her descriptions of Declan, it is the beauty of Declan's life and the wonder and joy of her experience of life with Declan that are put into focus. She describes in "Our Story" on the website that "His love of life, regardless of his special condition, is a constant reminder that there is a colorful thread that weaves us all together. The need to love and to be loved." The mission of the brand "is to recognize and embrace the unique strengths of those with disabilities. By supporting and encouraging not only them, but their caregivers, we give them an opportunity to not only to be relevant and contribute, but to make an impact in the world." In addition to designing and creating these beautifully inspiring and encouraging wearable messages, Elizabeth is developing a friendship box that will include other artisanal gifts by other makers whose products she admires and believes in the quality and messages of. Within the box will also be a special message from Declan with a palm print of his hand and the encouragement to touch and hold his hand when we need to feel the reassurance a friend can give. Declan also gives support to Charities including Autism Society, Special Olympics, and Guide Dogs For The Blind. In a very powerful way, the very message of the brand gives a voice to Declan himself, asking the question and helping us find the answer to "How will you create and define your time on earth?"

Elizabeth and I had a conversation this past week, and it was a lovely one. There are times when you meet people at times in your life when you need to know that you're on the right track, and somehow that was what happened. I don't know where I'm going sometimes these days, but wherever that is somehow in our conversation I felt less alone. A burden shared is a burden halved as the saying goes, and when we find a way to connect with each other we can find our way to keep going. In a way I think that's what bravery is after all, when we feel less alone and we can keep moving forward in spite of the doubts and fears and uncertainty. When we can keep moving through we find we can make it and that the journey is a better one with a friend.

declan

https://declan.la/

Photographs Courtesy Of Elizabeth Sites

A First Selfie At Home

Inspired By A Gift Of Friendship

In Bryant Park

At The Holiday Market

Blessings,

Jannie Susan