Read this post on Lotus & Michael Blog When I Met Monet Part II :
When Michael wears our Kungfu shirt and stands on the bridge leisurely looking over the pond, I recall the painting I did years ago. That painting is about Monet; about Monet standing on his Japanese bridge watching his beloved waterlilies.
If Monet were here, he would like to wear the same clothes Michael is wearing now, and would look over the pond as Michael does.
READ MORE.... When I Met Monet Part II
Are you a why or a why not?
Think carefully. Your future may depend on it.
Are you afraid of change? Don’t like your current situation but can’t face the future with something different? Then you have a fixed mindset.
Or, do you welcome change as opportunity? Risks yes, but possible rewards outweigh them. Then you have a growth mindset.
Do you prejudge the future as if you can predict it? Do you defend the present as “we have always done it this way?”
Here’s the key question—please think about it. Are you a why or a why not?
The answers to these questions will most likely determine the course of your career and your relationships.
The most famous case of failure due to a fixed mindset is the case of Detroit in the 1980’s as told in Richard Halberstam’s The Reckoning. “Doing things the Detroit way” lost American carmakers the dominant share of market—forever.
One of the best movies of all time shows the paralytic, destructive and even tragic consequences of a fixed mindset: How Green Was My Valley, John Ford’s 1941 masterpiece telling the story of a Welsh mining town (which could be anywhere) that is so tragically stuck in their mindset so that the only way out is—out.
I recommend you watch this movie on YouTube or wherever you get your media. Then come back here and comment about your takeaways from this film. As with all films of that time, the focus is on acting, not effects. Great performances and a great story won this film 5 Oscars. It is one of my all time favorites—it entertains and teaches if you pay attention and open your mind.
Finally, answer the question for yourself: Are you a why or a why not? Are you happy with your answer? What will you do to change it if you feel change is needed.
Here is the link to the movie on YouTube: How Green Was My Valley?
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Next article: an approach you can take to improve your mindset.
“Want a road trip?” One day Michael suddenly asked, who had been inspired by his friend’s recent road trip.
“Road trip?” I felt interested, “Go where?”
“Down to the south along the east coast. We can go to Savannah, perhaps even Miami. We can leave it open, see how we feel then.”
Thus, we started the packing right away: One basket for our clothes, one basket for our drinks and fruit, one basket for the toiletries. Next morning, with a full tank of gas, our “wide-eyed” little green mini carrying us set off toward the south, where the sun shone blazingly.
Our first stop was the north Outer Banks, Kill Devil Hills. Sea, beach, palm trees, and sun-tanned people. Michael was born and grew up by the sea, so being with the ocean, listening to its roaring or rumbling, letting the refreshing sea breezes pass through his hair, he felt like he was back to his deep soul. While to me, who so lacked experience about the sea and beach, I was captured by the ocean aura immediately. Yes, the Ocean does have its particular aura: It is calm, yet wild; it is open, yet mysterious; it is clear and gay, yet salty and bitter.
With our toes in sand, while watching the tides, I thought of a Chinese poem. It goes:
“Starting from tomorrow, I shall be a happy man--
Feed my horse, chop my firewood, and travel around the world;
Starting from tomorrow, I shall care for my crops and vegetables,
And build a house, facing the sea, enjoy the blooming spring.
Starting from tomorrow, I shall write to all my friends,
Telling them my happiness.
Whatever I get from that flash of happiness,
I shall tell everyone.
Give each river, each mountain a heartwarming name;
My dear stranger, I will offer you my best wishes as well--
May you own a prosperous future,
May you obtain a good ending with your darling one,
May you eventually find your happiness.
While I, I only hope to be facing the sea, enjoy the blooming spring.”
In my case, beside the sea and blooming spring, I will build a garden as well, a most magnificent sea garden. I already started it with a small collection of shells and stones that I took away.
Many of us (like me) have tattoos.
Some are small, some are bigger.
Some can be seen by others.
Some are hidden, to appear only to our intimates.
Celebrities with exposed tattoos have a better chance of them being seen by many others. They range from large and obvious, like Mike Tyson’s Maori eye tattoo, to Dame Helen Mirren’s interlocking v’s. Tyson said that he got the face tattoo to make a statement about himself as a warrior, and Mirren says that she was drunk when she got it (as were many that did the same), and that it represents “love thy neighbor.”
So what do all these tattoos have in common?
First, they are indelible, except with a lot of pain.
Second, they all make a statement.
But what if Mike Tyson doesn’t feel like a warrior one day? Or if Helen Mirren doesn’t feel so tolerant?
Too bad.
I think we can all agree that on different days, even different times of the day, we have many different feelings—power, powerlessness, love, beauty, happiness, dangerousness, endangered.
So, what if you could have a tattoo that you could wear when you feel like it and not when you don’t? Or that you could cover and expose at will?
If you like this idea, Lotus & Michael garments are for you. We created the Wearable Tattoo™
Dragon, Lion, Mamba, Spider, Peony, Sinensis, even Double Happiness and more on the way. These are all your go-to top, dress or shorts. Depending on how you feel that day.
Wear them, don’t, show them, don’t. Up to you.
All of this on garments that look, fit and feel great.
The result: Happiness.
Try them and give us your feedback by sending a picture of yourself with the garment on. The best combination of picture and story gets a free garment of your choice.
It is popular these days in business courses (like mine) to teach about the Triple Bottom Line, which represents People, Planet and Profit that is, according to Harvard Business, a “sustainable business strategy” which benefits the environment, people and shareholders. This strategy is getting a lot of attention from businesses and consumers these days.
Our business strategy changes that up a little bit. Our strategy is Planet, People, Product. Wait- where’s the Profit? Don’t we want and need profit? Of course. The difference is that we firmly believe that we need to focus on the important stuff and profit will come. Why? Because people who love our product and our philosophy will buy—thus the profit will come, but our first mission is to place our product with people who love it and respect our brand.
All of our commitments are summarized in our Dozen Commitments below, but first let’s get a general understanding of our 3P’s:
Planet- All the critters, creatures and plants that live on our planet. From the little ladybug to the fierce tiger, from the modest crocus to the extravagant peony. Also included in Planet is our responsibility to protect it and not do anything to harm its present or future. In fact, we can add to its future by doing things like eliminating plastic from our product and packaging, and making garments that will last longer and not become garment waste.
People- All of us are residents of the same planet. Some have different roles than others, but that doesn’t change what we are and who we are-people. We believe and act to respect all people and their absolute right to feed their families and build their communities. This includes everything from how we treat people to how we pay them.
With this philosophy, the physical, racial, financial differences between us become irrelevant.
Product- Once again, the product itself and its packaging should ALL be made of sustainable materials. Packaging should be minimized and therefore transport should minimize use of fuel.
But here there is more: We know that clothing has the ability to make us feel good and happy, or bad and embarrassed, with all shades of grey in between. We go for the extreme happiness side. We want to see big smiles when people put on our garments, as well as those who observe them, because our product has delighted them by exceeding their expectations.
Our product celebrates nature and is not afraid of showing that through its embroidery and quality fabric. We sell (and wear) the representatives of the world we believe in.
Quality is of the highest importance to us; without quality, all of our other efforts are wasted. Our garments are made with the harshest critic in mind—us.
This is our sworn commitment and the principles of how we live, so the natural result is our product. We live, create and produce by this philosophy. Our Dozen Commitments are the specifics:
Our Dozen Commitments:
1. Original Designs-All the designs showing on our products are created, owned and copyrighted by LotusandMichael,LLC.
2. Artisanal craftmanship-We pay meticulous attention to every detail, our products are crafted by the most skilled artisans with supreme fabrics to meet our high-quality standard. We would and do wear anything we sell to you.
3. Dependable Pricing-We guarantee that each product’s price on our website will be reliable and consistent, so as to be fair to every one of you when making a purchase. You will have the security of knowing your price won’t be discounted after you buy the item.
4. Payment Security-The payment methods offered on our website are secure by Shopify and Paypal. You can shop freely without any concern.
5. Pre-shipment Inspection-Though our manufacturers have conducted multiple inspections at our workshop, we inspect every piece of our products as a double guarantee before we ship it to you.
6. Customer Service-Offering you great products and services are our goal. Whenever you have questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us (lotus@lotusandmichael.com).
7. Social Compliance-Our factories must adhere to our Code of Conduct, which looks out for the Health, Safety and Welfare of our workers; we guarantee to adhere to the SA 8000 standards, which include ensuring:
• No Underage labor
• Right to Collective bargaining
• No Discrimination
• No Environmental harm
• Freedom of association
• No Harassment and abuse
• Compliance with Health & Safety Standards that protect workers
• No Prison or forced labor
• Wages that are fairly applied according to local and international standards and properly compensate workers for normal and extra work hours, days or task
• No Excessive work hours- Workers must have at least one day of rest per week and overtime should be limited to 12 hours/week
• No Unauthorized Subcontracting at Non-Compliant workshops
8. Fair Trade-We guarantee that we have ensured that the factories and workers in our supply chain comply with local and global Fair Trade standards. Our Suppliers will not pay less than the local and global standard, even if they can.
9. Paying Our Suppliers on Time-Once we buy something, we own it and will pay the suppliers for it in full and on time as agreed.
10. Worker Community Welfare-We take responsibility for the communities of workers in our factories and aim to build viable communities for them and their families. We pay a fair price that builds communities and sustains workers and their families.
11: Sustainability and Minimal Environmental Impact-As home gardeners, we appreciate nature and our planet. Here we proudly announce that:
• All the materials used in our products are natural and sustainable.
• We build our products with great attention to be timeless and durable, so with a little tender loving care, they can be with you for years.
• We are extremely selective on merchandising in order to produce less, thus less textile waste and more benefit for our planet.
• We minimize our packaging to avoid wastage and avoid non-recyclable materials.
• In our small way, we are willing to contribute as much as possible to the earth’s future.
12. Privacy Policy- Your time on our site is totally voluntary. We will never sell your information to third parties or follow you with tracking cookies. Our site is open to all and the information therein will never be gated content.
This we swear; this we live every day. Because we want to and should.
Join us.
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