•The Process•
6-15-2017
Last season of Zetêrra when I was donating to breast cancer (December 2016-April 2017) the focus (aside from positivity, creativity& originality) was to show that with a little effort and creativity, I can help people all over the country affected by breast cancer to be comfortable and live a more fulfilled life just from the proceeds of a long term project. It turned out to be a success and Zetêrra team had the privilege of donating $87 to breastcancer.org , where every dollar donated helps 3 women with breast cancer get the care they need to protect their life!
(^^a simple graphic made by Ⓩ37 during the first stages of Zetêrra)
This season Zetêrra gets to show what it really means to grow, and I believe donating to two varying nonprofit organizations will prove exactly that, even if we get only one purchase of each shirt. It isn't about how many things are sold or even the donation amount. The meaning of Zetêrra is carried through inspiration. I believe that MOST art comes from inspiration (of previous works and concepts melded through time, culture& style) Many creatives take what they see from other admired artists, and turn it into their own style of work!
(Taken from Austin Kleon's New York Times Bestseller 'Steal Like An Artist')
One of the many reasons Zetêrra was created was to inspire anyone who thinks they might not have the potential to create something great, and also to wake up the people who keep a blind eye toward charities and donations, because I have been blind to everything unfortunate in the past and made the excuse that I was too broke to donate to charity and also the excuse that even if I did donate, it wouldn't make much of a difference. I believed that if I focused on the negative things going on the world I would just become a more depressed individual and feel like I wasn't changing anything, and the truth is the opposite. Even if nothing happens in my lifetime, now I know that I can always be a part of the solution, it's never too late to start and you can never donate too little.
After getting a restaurant job in 2012 and putting some money away then working for 5 years, I started to realize that ANYONE has the mental ability to really create something beneficial to the world! I was really never "too broke" and shouldn't have been making that excuse, because after learning about poverty I can tell you that more than half of the world has it much worse than I ever did in terms of money and opportunity. This is where the inspiration part comes in. You can really achieve anything you set your mind to (as corny as that sounds) I'm becoming proof of that by making progress every day. This project is here to inspire even the most unfortunate people to keep on grinding and being creative, because at one point I thought the only profitable future for me was in cheap gambles or illegal activity. If you're stuck in that lifestyle, Zetêrra is here to show that there are much better things out there you can reach through your own creativity rather than trying to follow the negative way of life society seems to lead many of us into. Even if you consider your lifestyle to be perfect, Zetêrra is here to always urge us to ask ourselves: "What could I do to improve this?" ..even if you alone are the only one putting in effort in the beginning.
.....Now fast forward to 7 months since the launch of my project Zetêrra, we are beginning to expand on a global level. One goal of this season is to show there is more than one way to be part of the solution! 20% of the proceeds from all Green 'Zetêrra 2017' shirts sold are going to Fauna and Flora International, a non profit organization that focuses on protecting all wildlife including plant life around THE WORLD.
20% of the proceeds from all blue 'Zetêrra 2017' shirts & the 'True Blue' Classic Button hats will be donated to Mercy Corps, an organization that is known for providing access to clean drinking water in the countries that need it most!
Thank you to the people who have ordered or reserved Zetêrra gear/supported me however they could; it has been great catching up with old friends from school and even people who I never got the chance to be friends with until now! If you haven't engaged yet, by all means, let me know what you think of Zetêrra! I appreciate every bit of insight. I hope that with this project I can inspire at least one person to do something positive, creative, and/or original, that due to fear or discouragement wouldn't normally happen. Lately I've been putting myself out there, which brings me way out of my comfort zone, but is so rewarding. I come from a family of hard workers and I've always known that one day I would be working my ass off on something meaningful. There's never a bad feeling when someone else is inspired by my project. Others might see someone doing something similar to them and think they're being copied, but I genuinely get a good feeling when I see people doing anything unique (art-related activities, starting a brand, making music etc...) It's the whole meaning of this clothing brand; stay POSITIVE , CREATIVE , and ORIGINAL! By the way, thank you to everyone who's reading this. I have ANOTHER exciting blog coming soon that you won't want to miss, stay tuned!
-Ⓩ37 (Zetêrra Chief Creative Officer)
