Dear Keep Fam…how to even begin?
We’ve donated hundreds of pairs of brand new shoes in the past weeks, but as a small business we’ve reached our capacity of what we can do by ourselves and we need your help. If you’re interested in gifting a pair of new shoes to someone affected by the wildfires, please click here. We are offering a 50% discount on new shoes and will deliver them through a network of volunteers, mutual aid organizations, and “free stores” to those who need them. New shoes/sneakers in boxes were a frequent request from aid organizers and we would like to continue to help as much as we can for as long as they’re needed.
If you’re looking for ways to help LA and are planning to purchase new products or meals for those needing wildfire relief, please consider buying from independently owned small businesses, many of whom were the first to answer the call for aid. Your support will be two fold in directly helping the entire community.
Here is a list of local restaurants where you can purchase community meals that are distributed to front line workers and families displaced by the wildfires. Local businesses still have payrolls to meet and rent and bills to pay. Our friends in the restaurant community work tirelessly to keep our spirits up and our bellies full. If you can, please help us help others who need it.
On a personal note, to be real, it’s been a lot. If you feel the same way, know that you’re not alone. I wanted to share some thoughts in case it resonates with anyone reading, but please skip if it doesn’t!
As a small business owner, as a citizen, and simply as a person, navigating these monumental shifts in our lives—from the seismic change in administration to the disastrous fires in the city I love—has been overwhelming. Many complicated feelings have rushed in, in overlapping waves: despair, gratitude, fear, rage, inspiration. Some days I feel bright moments of clarity and other days I am floating, frozen, in a pool of confusion.
How do I live a meaningful life while the world burns? In my heaviest moments, this is the question I returned to again and again. Digging deeper, the question became stripped down to: what really does a meaningful life look like to me? As I began to contemplate this simplified version, I felt a profound shift occur.
I discovered that focusing on a positive vision of the future, engaging with myself to define in detail (not just the broad strokes) what matters most to me, is a powerful act of creativity and of love. Start simple, and then go deeper. The answer is incredibly personal and is meant to continually evolve. Even though it is ever shifting, it provides a direction for me to move toward. It is a guide and it is energizing. I found the opposite to be true when I fixated on threats and anxiety that kept me in a reactive state of outrage, based on fear. Every day I do my best to choose creativity and love over reactivity and fear.
I was deeply moved by the rapid organization and massive outpouring of support and mutual aid that came together as the wildfires burned. For all my occasional bouts of cynicism, I now know without a doubt that regular people truly want to help each other. I have witnessed a lot of love and that has been my north star. We don’t have to have everything figured out. We’re in a dynamic situation. What I do know is this: we can use a positive vision of the future as a guide, we can use love as a light, and we can find solace and clarity in action as we move toward that vision.
