A Very Special Blog

THE GIVING TREE*
(Re-imagined)
Once there was a tree

on a whole bunch of run down property…

and this tree was feeling a little alone,

Until one day a woman came

and made the land her own…

And instantly,

The tree

Loved..

This woman…

And every day for the next 20 years
Woman and tree,

facing all their fears,

worked,

branch in hand

To restore all the land

To it’s once magnificent state-

they sealed their fate,

Together
They would they be

Woman and tree

Till the end…..
　

But this woman..

She wasn’t alone

She had a daughter,

Who one day,

Came home!

　
Daughter began to work at the tree and the womans side

And in the womans, her mothers, house,

to reside...

And as for the tree

Well, it was now

Extra happy.


The years continued to pass

More work, life and love was amassed,

until the collapse of the economy struck

And woman daughter and tree

Found themselves
way down on their luck,
And none of the three were so happy…




So one day the daughter decided,

And in the tree and the mom she confided

That the time had come for her to see

Just what else
She could possibly be…

And although nothing about this was easy,

Daughter left the mom and the tree

To see if she could find her own happy…

　

And although daughter will terribly miss

Life with woman and tree,

Which was bliss!

Daughter also knows,

Unless she goes

She can never learn to be

Her very own giving tree….

The End...

and

The Beginning…





(Pssst…just between you and me,
a secret from woman and tree)
Daughter knows she will someday
Be here again….
It’s only a question of when

With So Much Love And Gratitude
Rachel Smith 12/24/2010

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Dena Haden was one of the first full time employees at Giving Tree Gallery. At the time, Dena was studying art, and today is one of our favorite artists! Last summer, Dena placed an installation on the grounds of Giving Tree Gallery. This year, we asked her to draw an image for this goodbye poem from Rachel. You can see more of Denas work on her website WWW.HADENDENA.COM. Dena is preparing for her upcoming solo shows as well as being available for commission work.





*This poem, and everything I will ever do.. is for Judith.
　

　

It's That Time Again... The MOST Wonderful Time... It's Time For Our 12 DAYS OF JOY!!!

YIPPEE!

Our '12 Days of Joy' is something we created last year, and it was singularly, yes, the most JOYFUL experience we had all year!

There were a few reasons for this. Allow me to make a list... as it IS list making time after all (and did I mention, we have something fabulous for everyone on your list?? But I digress)

Our List of "Why We Love Our 12 Days Of Joy Campaign"(and are SO excited to start it up again!)

1) IT WORKED! And this is no small thing. Meaning, being a small, very small (Mother, Daughter, two fabulous employees, dog) business (the LARGEST in the love we put into it however!) The economic recession was devastating for us. It took all of our faith and creativity to even continue for another year. So the 'Joy' campaign was our way of infusing some energy and excitement into the site. And we knew everyone was feeling the recession, so we chose to do really deep discounts as a thank you for the loyalty of our customers. We also made the decision (sort of in a 'when life gives you lemons' way) to actually GIVE AWAY a wonderful piece of jewelry everyday during the 12 days.

I don't think we will be invited to guest lecture at Harvard School Of Business anytime soon... but the campaign DID work! And, I happen to think it was COPIED by many 'bigger' companies. But we all know where it started, don't we? :)

2)IT WAS SO FUN! Really and truly, we had such a good time picking the pieces to offer with the huge discount, selecting a piece from our collection to give away, blogging and facebooking (is this now a verb?) about it all, and most importantly, PICKING A WINNER EACH AND EVERY DAY FOR 12 DAYS! Oh it's AWESOME.. to tell a customer that is not expecting it.. "SURPRISE! YOU JUST GOT SOMETHING WONDERFUL FOR FREE!"

3) IT MADE OUR CUSTOMERS (who we consider friends) HAPPY! There was such a good feeling through the "12 days". It was as if we could 'feel' our friends smiling when 'facebooking' :)

4)The gorgeous, glorious, jewelry-with-meaning LINKED FRIENDSHIP NECKLACE WAS BORN!

READ THE STORY OF THE LINKED FRIENDSHIP NECKLACE NOW!

5) IT MADE US HAPPY!

I actually have an entire section dedicated to the experience of creating and running our 'Joy' campaign, in my soon to be finished (I hope!)Second edition of "How To Avoid Being Sad", my little book about how to..avoid being sad!

I explain how the months leading up to the holiday season, and the "12 Days" specifically, were remarkably hard and challenging. Mostly due to the effects of the recession, but also.. they just stunk! for lots and lots of personal reasons. However, HAVING to consciously, specifically, and consistently FOCUS ON CREATING AND SHARING JOY, each and every day for 12 days, actually, in retrospect, was probably the only thing that got us through the tough time. It is as simple as the now ubiquitous concept that 'thoughts become things' but goshdarnit.. it's true! We became more joyful because we were thinking and talking and selling and giving away.. JOY!

This little in house 'marketing campaign' last year, did everything to restore our joy and faith in our business, and in the business of living. Thank you.

Now, it should be obvious why we cannot wait to start the 12 days of JOY again!

So here it is!
LET THE JOY BEGIN!

And thank you.. for receiving our joy. That's the best part for us!

Love,
Rachel, Judith, Laura, Courtney and Beazie

NEW BLOG!- GIVING TREE JEWELRY ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY CONTEST!"What Does Your Wish Look Like?"

Tell us.. better yet...

SHOW US!

Yup, that's right.. take a picture! "Show" us a visual of your big wish!

The picture and connection to your 'wish' can be as odd, esoteric, and personal as you want! This is about YOUR wishes.. only YOU know what they 'look' like!

Still, we want you to share! This week is all about being grateful. What better way to honor our potential for JOY! than to allow ourselves a few quiet moments to commisserate with our friends over all that is GOOD and RIGHT and POSSIBLE in the world!

Here is an album of pictures I snapped, QUICKLY and without much thought or editing..simply here to prove.. you don't have to be an expert (or even in focus!)

These are super 'small' moments in my day to day life.. yet they supply the beautiful 'evidence' that my 'wishes' are out there!

CHECK OUT MY PICTURES!

ADD YOUR PICTURES AND ADD YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BRAND NEW ROUND, GOLD TINY WISH!

JUST CLICK ON 'ADD PICTURES' UNDER THE PHOTO ALBUM

UPLOAD YOUR PICTURE

CLOSE BOX, PUT IN YOUR 'WISH' DESCRIPTION (can be anything! love, luck, joy, peace, family, health, clarity, change, chocolate, the list goes on and on!)

That's right! On Friday (the day after the most fabulous day of the year!) EVERYONE who enters a photo in our contest,via the GIVING TREE JEWELRY FACEBOOK PAGE, or by emailing rachelandjudith@givingtreejewelry.com or ON OUR SHUTTERFLY CONTEST PAGE IS ELIGIBLE TO WIN A BRAND NEW, GOLD, ROUND 'TINY WISH' NECKLACE!!

IN ANTICIPATION OF ALL YOUR WISHES COMING TRUE.. (and getting to see pictures of them!) ALL OF US AT WWW.GIVINGTREEJEWELRY.COM SAY... YIPPEEE!

With wishes for your JOY!
Rachel, Cape Cod, November 2010

New Blog.. Customer Doesn't Know But...

I couldn't resist posting this email from her! A customer that has become a DEAR FRIEND.. sent this pontification today.. I loved it, I love her, and I figure, if I don't attribute a name.. it's ok to post!!. .:)
(p.s... couldn't agree more!)

have you ever been in a starbucks and noticed that everyone is trying to "be" someone? whether it be the clothing or the attitude or giant sunglasses, fancy shoes...anyway, we went to starbucks today and there was a line and an older man working the register and he was so pleasant and had this sparkle in his eye...paul newman look alike maybe 10 years ago i'd guess. rude person after rude person snatches coffee from him. he never changes...smiles at each person, greets each person with just this honest and jolly attitude regardless of how stupid they are with their giant sunglasses and god forbid they say thank you or please. so i get up there, order just a regular coffee and he starts apologizing like he just crashed into my car or something because he has to make a new pot. I just said "oh my god please, fresh coffee sounds great thanks so much for that"....grumbling people waiting. he looked me right in the eye and said "THANK YOU"....like thanks for not being a jerk. What's wrong with people that they can't have a pleasant exchange and just have a little patience and know that maybe he would rather be home with his family and not working at a stupid starbucks but maybe he has no choice so hey, be pleasant and stop treating people like they're the gum on the bottom of your shoe because they work behind the counter of a starbucks. anyway, i just got a warm feeling from the guy and felt for him working at the stupid starbucks. they should rename it stupid starbucks i think. unfortunately i like their gingerbread latte...xo