to be friendly

Exciting things: Seems the design and message is landing. Sure, the brand idea is a simple encouragement, nothing revolutionary here. But I’ve been thinking more about why it’s hitting home with guys & gals, young & old.

A good summary: I think the Grinch would want a shirt.

Stick with me here, you’ll get it:

  • I’m a burned-out-no-longer-young-not-yet-old 30-something with a complicated past
  • Recent changes for healthier routines help lower social anxiety: more time at the gym, generally taking care of myself and building confidence to meet people outside my bubble
  • I meet Cam
  • Cam connects me with Gia
  • The three of us start WFH-ing at the gym cafe
  • Acquaintances awkwardly become friendships and we’re eventually swapping life stories
  • Cam offers up this idea he’s had for a branded shirt
  • We noodle on it some more
  • I dig into design changes and how to make it real, playing with screen-printing kits in my apartment’s kitchen
  • Bang bang boom

What I realized: this thing was built out of friendship.

What we have here is not just a personalized creed, something anyone can wear to remind themselves to stick with it. It’s a symbol of how getting through hard things requires getting vulnerable with a pal or two.

One of the phrases I like to use as a motto for Happiest is “we don’t have to be at 100% to still show up for ourselves and the people we care about.” And I think it’s good to desire/expect the same from our core buddies. 

To become okay with feeling again and eventually recover from the secret, darker sides of emotional or mental health journeys, we have to risk being embarrassed, judged or rejected once we acknowledge who we are in front of others. Plus, it’ll take a lot of courage to rally after being mistreated or misunderstood during a vulnerable situation. But to close the door completely is choosing a half life or worse. 

Bring back the Grinch: he has a heart-growing epiphany that Christmas is actually about togetherness re: friendship and instead of continuing to isolate in bitterness he decides to join.

I think he’d be a fan of the shirt. 

Am I saying I’m a recovering Grinch? Probably. Yeah. Welcome all you other green fellas. 

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