Life, uh, finds a way (to foil our plans)
Since my last update (almost 8 months ago!), things have changed quite a bit.
I've started playing music with my brother again (it's hit and miss due to scheduling, but we can still shred some tasty lixxx).
I was let go from my job after 3 years, which changed our plans quite a bit.
I've celebrated 33 years around the sun, 11 years of marriage, and 10 years around the sun for my daughter.
I've struggled with depression, loneliness, anxiety, and stress.
In short, I've been human.
As a fellow human (I presume? If you're an alien or a pet with the ability to read, I'm honored that you're here and not conquering the human race), I hope you'll extend some grace my way. You see, I would love for this project to be a full-time thing. But life, uh, finds a way to foil our plans.
Last fall, I had grand designs of getting back into writing, designing more clothes, posting social content, selling stuff...you get the idea. Like many, many other people out there, I fell into the pattern of spending too much time on my work and not enough time on the things that light me up.
So here I am, trying this thing again!
If you're new here, welcome. This company (if you want to call it that) was created after losing a cousin to suicide. The odds are pretty high that you either know someone who has attempted or died by suicide, or you've attempted and survived yourself. You're in good company here.
So what is it that we do? And by "we", I mean "me, my dog Theo for cozy support, and some friends/family who contribute every so often". I'm glad you asked!
bobbox exists to help get people into counseling - 50% of our profits are donated to organizations with existing mental health partnerships, services, or scholarships. We typically donate to HeartSupport, one of my personal favorites, but also donate to The Trevor Project and other organizations as requested by anyone who partners with us for artwork.
That also means that we'll occasionally do fundraisers for these organizations and direct visitors to those sites (we don't make money on any of that stuff, we just like and respect those organizations).
Long story short: buying merch means someone has access to counseling or other services via some great nonprofits. It also means seeing people out there wearing things that we've designed, and that's always super cool.
Anyway, I hope you'll stick around, both as a reader and as a living being. Whether you know it or not, your presence here means something. Maybe you don't know what it is yet, but until then I hope you stay so you can find out.
Love you (in a platonic, I hope you succeed at everything and that all of the good things you deserve kind of way).
Kit