Do you Timehop? I do and I love it. As someone who has experienced a couple of life changing events within the last five years, it is fascinating to look back at the things I’ve thought and felt . . . and see how they’ve evolved.
If you’re not familiar, Timehop is a sort of virtual time capsule app that shows you what you were posting on social media on today’s date in years past. Sometimes it’s mundane observations on the weather or what I ate for dinner or if the Royals/Jayhawks were thrilling/killing me. And sometimes it’s a picture, like this:
Just a girl on a mountain. This popped up on my Timehop this week and it kinda got me. It’s September of 2008, at the top of Piestewa Peak in Phoenix, my second hometown. And it’s just before I started to get really, really, sick . . . six months before my non-Hodgkin’s diagnosis. Seeing the photo now made me wonder: What was I thinking? How was I feeling? What was important to me? What views did I have then that have COMPLETELY changed since? How would that Ashley feel if I told her what was coming in the next six years?
It also got me thinking about the lessons cancer taught me and how many of them I still “live” today. Some of them, like not sweating the small stuff, not taking health for granted, savoring the little things and being infinitely patient with people — since you never know what they’re facing — are tougher to put into practice.
Others, like not polluting my life with BS, come easily. In fact, my BS detox has been instrumental in how we’re building Milagro. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but along with the good that the Internet brings, there is an astronomical amount of BS. Everyone has a voice, which is simultaneously empowering and maddening. Everyone’s thoughts and opinions are out there, to either “like” or to drive you nuts. And the overuse and abuse of superlatives, hyperbole, and obnoxious headlines (“YOUR SKIN CARE IS KILLING YOU!”) is out of control.
The perk is that we get to see true colors. Whether it’s with friends or with businesses, there is a level of transparency that comes with the constant communication. Like it or not, it’s easier than ever to know where people and companies stand. What they value. How they operate. If they have any guiding principles or if they’re just about the sale.
I love this. It enables me to make informed decisions with my dollars. I can use my BS meter to determine if a company deserves my business. And even better, as a business owner, I can choose which people and companies to partner with, based on how our values align. It takes longer: when a vendor approaches me about selling their line, I spend a considerable amount of time reading through all of their marketing materials, both print and digital, to ensure I’m comfortable with HOW they sell their product.
Are they honest about what’s in it? Are they honest about what it can do? Do they respect the consumer’s intelligence? Do they chase every new trend? Do they have a reason for existing, other than just turning a profit?
These expectations DRASTICALLY reduce your options. Businesses that are obviously just looking for the “next big thing” and that are willing to use any tactic necessary to sell their product are everywhere. In the last week alone . . .
– The new urgent care clinic I drive by is offering facials now. Makes sense. – I was advised not to do natural soaps for our giveaway at a wellness event because the medspa/plastic surgeon that’s attending is bringing natural soaps. Huh? – I looked up the ingredient list on a skin care product duo for a client to find that the step one product is proudly marketed as “paraben free!” while the second step (the partnering product! That you use with “paraben free!” step one!) contains parabens. What?
It requires considerable determination to hold out for partners you believe in. There are so many fantastically fun and delicious products in the world today. But to be honest, it doesn’t matter how fantastic the product is if the company is not fantastic. I’m flat out past the days of mindlessly buying things. If it’s on the shelf in my shop and I’m recommending it to my friends, I want to believe in the vendor who is profiting from that sale. Call me old-fashioned.
If the amount of BS in your life has reached an overwhelming level, detox with us. Tune it out, leave it behind. We’ve officially declared Milagro a BS-free zone. We sell great things from great companies who respect your intelligence. And we offer great spa services from great therapists that are guaranteed to make you feel fantastic.
No BS. That’s our kind of detox.
コメント