"Intrapersonal Intelligence: having an understanding of yourself; knowing who you are, what you can do, what you want to do, how you react to things, which things to avoid, and which things to gravitate toward. We are drawn to people who have a good understanding of themselves. They tend to know what they can and can’t do, and to know where to go if they need help." -Howard Gardner’s seminal Theory of Multiple Intelligences
I design and so I become...
This short video of Jason Silva shared with me by our Marketing Director takes a very simple reality and explains it so well I had to share with all of you. Enjoy!
For many years, I have traveled the world for various reasons and lived in many different communities. The many lives of "me" I would say.
When I returned from each one of my tips, my family, in Canada at the time would say I had become someone different. They would suggest that I had changed who I was, to become something different and that somehow bothered me. I felt that they were saying I had lost something of myself when I felt I was more of my "self". I felt they were saying I was not true to myself because I had come back looking different, talking differently, eating different food and sharing new ideas. I explained that I was still the "self" they knew before, but that I had grown during my trip, that this growing had added more to my "self".
Years later. I now see that what was happening after those trips is still happening, my consciousness and yours expands to include the people, places, and ideas we are exposed to much like the fellow in this video discusses. I question previous ideas, expose my "self" to new ones and expand.
Through my exposure to what my life experiences have presented to me, I have designed a self that incorporates all I've learned survival, friendship, love, success, peace, determination, and gratitude. These are some of the tools of my "design". With or without my knowledge of what I have expanded into, I have "become." I say "without" because we are not always aware of how we are affected by what comes our way.
If who I "become" is not dynamic by honoring and incorporating the effects of the "design" I've created, then I think I would be dead or just not truly living.
-Anna Marie
Number 1, creating opportunity where there are none, is incredibly rewarding. Even now 7 years after we started organizing our women's co-op in Nabapur, India. The number of women in the co-op at Nabapur has remained roughly around 270 for the last 4 years. However, there is a lot more work, so most of them are now working full time.
Many of them earn more than their husbands. We had some families move for a variety of reasons and trained new replacements as needed. We still have a long list of hopefuls waiting for their chance to earn from home..for an opportunity.
We have found 270 to be our capacity in this community because we are limited by space in the community center. We are hoping someday we will have enough money to build a larger center to accommodate more women training, inventory, yarn storage...however, we have expanded to a 2nd community in called Atcara which is about 2 hours away.
Atcara, Shanty village is now organized and training is almost complete with the 6 women we found to have some knitting background to coach there. This village is unique in that it is not only composed of lower caste or untouchables but they also have gypsy heritage. I found many to have Aztek like features. They are known for their ability to sing to snakes. Most families have a variety of snakes that they keep for entertainment, protection from rodents and for cultural activities. We visited with them last May and were both delighted and heartbroken to meet these beautiful women.
In the midst of extreme poverty, they were so very gracious and welcoming to us. Jaya told me it is really hard for these people both men and women to find work because many Indians do not want anything to do with them. She said sometimes they do work and are not paid and other times the money is just tossed at them because many will not come near them.
When we got there Aroti who will be the leader of this co-op, who herself is a community organizer here had set-up a drop in clinic in her home and had arranged to have over 220 children vaccinated for Polio that day.
We are so excited to be working with her as she is very compliant and has a big heart for the women of this village. She was in tears when we explained what we had done in Nabapur and told her we wanted to grow the project to include her women. Among the mango and lychee trees we shared our vision for this project expansion and today there are 6 new coaches who have learned 10 new patterns.
We hope to introduce new products next year at the 2016 Housewares Show in Chicago. They have also learned to knit our best seller the Scrub Cloths in the traditional dishcloth pattern to support the production currently in Nabapur. By the end of this year, we expect to have 36 women begin production as our 6 coaches take on their first trainees.
-Anna Marie Stauss
What is an evolution in a small company? My Pokemon loving kids call it morphing. In simple terms, it is the expansion of an idea. As the ripple in the pond expands so does the circumference of a small company.
This year we have taken a giant leap and opened a 2nd Toockies project, in a 2nd village. We have been wanting to do this for some time for many reasons but were not able to because we needed to find more people motivated to make the world a better place passionately enough to give of their intellect, resources and time without pay.
This year with the help of my partner Jaya Basu we have established, "Sinko India Export" thanks to the selfless determination of the 2 gentlemen in this photo. This branch of our company will streamline the operation currently working with our co-op of women in India.
While enjoying a cool drink at an old British Colonial club in downtown Calcutta I felt our vision for the future expand. Someone amazing said, "If you imagine it, you can bring it about." Over a casual evening, we did that. We opened our minds and created an image of what an expansion would look like, what steps we would need to take, and as we discussed it further details began to emerge so that by the time we were done with dinner we could all see it.
We all knew what we need to do because we could see what it needed to look like. The creating or "imagining" as I like to call it, is a very exciting and collaborative effort. With new voices added to the minds, imagine there were a blooming sensation and progression that became real and realized.
I would like to welcome 2 new members to our teem of selfless heroes in India and 1 here in the USA. We are now 8 hoping to reach another 251 women in need of a dignified way to earn a living wage.
There are 12 new products coming into our mix. We are now ready to enter the Japanese market, the grocery market and do some co-branding. This will be an exciting year. Growth this year will be measured by our ability to reach more women in need and more customers appreciate the ship away from our disposable society.
-Anna Marie Stauss
What is your story? How are you telling it to others and to yourself? A life of painful memories can be a story of tragedy and pain or it can be a story of courage and strength.The way we tell our stores casts a light on our being. I think most people understand this but how can we transform that light if we are not able to see courage and strength in ourselves? I think it must start with small aspects of the whole tale. For a long time when asked about my childhood I would say I didn't have a happy one and would proceed to go through the long laundry list of the things that made me unhappy as a child. This made me feel sad and as a result I stopped talking about it. I left that sad story as I told it to myself and the child that experienced it as a whole mass of unpleasantness. I circled around it in my mind when the topic came up and detached myself from it whenever possible. So why unravel the mass?
My children began asking me about my childhood experiences and when I told them tidbits of my sad story they became sad also, so I decided to tell them my childhood stories as a child would in hope of casing a different light. I had to reach inside that whole mass to find that child and surprisingly she was not hard to find. I fact I felt she was happy to step forward.
Speaking through the eyes of little Anna, my narrative changed. She told them my stories in the light of the child I was when I was braving them instead of that of an adult looking back. It's amazing where children find joy and in my self as a child I found it. I was able to connect with the child inside me under all the layers of time and events to find hope and joy. How thrilling. The kids love her and love hearing about her.
Yes, there was sadness but as a child I did not have a sad story. As a child my story was one of curiosity, creativity, hope and innocence. I didn't know that my life was sad, as I didn't have anything to compare it to. Therefore, I enjoyed playing with my sisters in the garden or on our front porch. My favorite thing to do was to skip rope double dutch. I was really good at that. I loved to play with my dolls and may cloths for them. I could saw and embroider thanks to my mom and dreamed of designing my own cloths. I danced and sang a lot with my sisters and I would put on shows for my parents and the other kids in the neighborhood. My older sister was a talented choreographer who taught my younger sister and I dances. Yup, on Sundays I was a Sold Gold Dancer.
I remembering myself as a child, when I was a child. I found happy stories to tell my kids and slowly the mass of sadness began to unravel and I realized there were unhappy events in my life but the whole was truly wonderful. Now I have a wonderful story to tell of the fun things I used to do and when I'm reminded of the sad events, I feel the courage and strength that shield my inner child so I can still enjoy her today in the light of childhood joy.
Attached is the only baby photo I have and it is with my Big Sister who taught me how to dance and still inspires me to keep dancing through life.
-Anna Marie Stauss
