This article is our first expression of the values which underpinned our small business for nearly 5 years. We finally wrote them down and created The Encouragement Manifesto. We then asked some folk who we respect, and who live and work in the same way, to select one of the principles that strikes a chord with them and to write for us about it. We are gathering the articles here, in a Medium publication called ‘The Encouragement Manifesto’
We have been asked — a lot — what it is that we do.
People seem to like knowing that sort of stuff. It was easy when we had jobs with titles, or when we created a high street delicatessen. They are the ‘things’, the reference points.
What if what…
Every Day Encouragement (Days 44–51)
Day-to-day, our ‘encouragements’ are shared on Instagram over theencouragementmanifesto
The past week or so has been a scattergun approach in terms of subjects, perhaps a reflection of our ‘take each day as it comes’ approach to life; necessary in these uncertain times, but also coincident with our priority having switched to development of our website.
Day 44 suggested checking…
Every Day Encouragement (43/365)
With thanks to hope and wonder for the writing prompt:
You often feel tired, not because you’ve done too much but because you’ve done too little of what lights a spark in you.
(Alexander den Heijer)
Every Day Encouragement is a side project of feastsandfables Encouraging words, written and shared every day for 2021.
Every Day Encouragement (42/365)
So, we need to make some plans.
Plans about what to do next …
Oh, yes … and where.
We sort of have an idea … it’s a good idea. But every day — if you let it in — there are reasons why the plan might not work. Mostly, speculation about ‘stuff’ — sure, it is the sort of ‘make-or-break’ kind of stuff like “mm, will that actual…
Every Day Encouragement (41/365)
Sometimes, when you try and put generosity at the heart of your own purpose (maybe at the centre of that Manifesto you wrote with values woven through it) you alway assume that it is about YOU being generous to others.
Generous with your time, your energy, your words; with your encouragement.
We can report that it totally stops you in your tracks to be on the receiving end of unexpected generosity.
The super-generous @simon_john_heath gifted us a set of ten beautiful illustrations, one for each of the values at the heart of The Encouragement Manifesto.
This one seems like the best one to start with as we set out to share them all with you.
Every Day Encouragement is a side project of feastsandfables Encouraging words, written and shared every day for 2021.
Every Day Encouragement (40/365)
There are two ways of looking at rainy days.
Half empty … or half full.
Rainy days … days of regret? Days when you can’t do the things you planned … or the things you have to. Pinned indoors waiting for a break in the clouds? Digging out the waterproof layers? …
Every Day Encouragement (39/365)
These days, the world needs as much encouragement as it can get.
When we started to reflect — this time last year — on the community we had created during our high street adventures, the values we placed at the heart of our small business started to gently bubble to the surface.
When we wrote them down in one place, The Encouragement…
Every Day Encouragement (Days 32–38)
One month into #EveryDayEncouragement a ‘challenge within a challenge’. Amidst the 365 pieces of daily encouragement, a short burst of handwritten encouragement; perhaps because:
there is something more deliberate about hand writing something. Such a departure from fingers tapping idly across a keyboard. More consideration, perhaps. …
The Encouragement Manifesto (Part 2)
The Other Way
I was born to be positive.
Literally … my blood type is B+.
It makes me happy to know that optimism is in my blood. Even when I experience times when I’m less so.
But an outlook is more than just how you see the world.
An outlook is worth a thousand thoughts, words, decisions, or actions.
An outlook can…
The Encouragement Manifesto (Part 8)
When we ran a small business, there were some values at the heart of it. A code of behaviour. It was owner-run; just the two of us. So the way we worked, who we were, was never written down as such. It was in our hearts. We are pretty sure it was clear to our customers who we were and what was important to us. We worked hard to be consistent, to celebrate others and to stay positive. Our business was built on the successes and strengths of others; kindness and generosity were keystones; we talked about value, not price and that allowed us to create our community. We gathered up and shared inspiring stories and we sought to be a pebble in the pond, creating ripples. If we’d captured this at the time, we’d have called it The Encouragement Manifesto. Last year we decided to just write it down because it turns out these values resonate with people other than us. We asked some folk we trust and who live and work in the same way, to interpret the 10 principles in their own words.
A Softer Version of Change
She wasn’t doing anything I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.
J.D. Salinger, A girl I knew, 1948
But doing enough, it seems. Who would ask Salinger’s girl to do anything else?
As my own time of doing things seems to have gently subsided, the more recent years of my work have been…
