30 April 2022

As we make our way through this beautiful but chaotic world full of greenwashing, modern slavery, fast furniture, and hyper-materialism, it can be really hard to know where to place our foot next— how to live in a way that is conscious of ethics without letting researching and deliberating the numerous pros & cons of everything we consume become a full-time job. “Was this bath towel made with the earth in mind? Was the person who made it paid fairly?” “Which of these toothpastes caused the least harm to the planet to make? To people?” “Can I trust this 'natural’/’ethically made’ label or is it just marketing?” “What about this irresistible little pack of Oreos… I’ve heard they’re vegan and we recycle soft plastic to make park benches these days…right?” Right. Kind of. (For the record, I say, eat the Oreos, my friend.)

It is for all of these exhausting reasons (and many others) that attempting to subscribe to stark ‘black & white’ lifestyle choices is usually a losing battle. As far as I can tell, the world we live in is a big ol’ grey extravaganza. Take something like the “zero waste” movement for example. There are lots of articles you can read & videos you can watch about the problems with placing unrealistic expectations on (mostly female) end-consumers rather than advocating that suppliers and distributors take accountability for their upstream environmental impacts (among many other issues). Sometimes the added layers on our decisions can become so cumbersome that living in an ethically conscious way can feel paralysing, when all we wanted was to buy someone a gift, cook something delicious, or take a damn bath. For the past decade or so, I have found myself asking, how do we experience the human joys of beauty, abundance, and pleasure in our lives without unjustly sacrificing the health of the earth, our fellow humans, and sometimes our souls to have it? Is it possible to love the earth, all its living and non-living creatures, my own body … and eat my Oreos too? I have no idea, but I’m pretty sure dancing with paradoxes like these is one of the hallmarks of being human.

Enter: B.Emilia Design Co. Yep, you read that right— B.Emilia, not Begin Again. B.Emilia Design Co was my first attempt at creating a business that dances with the aforementioned paradox. The name B.Emilia came from one of many nicknames my aunt Kim has given me— Emilia Bedelia (beloved children’s book throwback, anyone? She was Amelia with an A, but an alternate spelling is exactly the kind of thing she would have encouraged.) Kim is an artist and maker herself, and some of my happiest childhood memories, and adulthood memories for that matter, have been made while sitting with her in her studio space beading, listening, watching, and learning how she could miraculously turn metal from solid to liquid and back again, or how to design a necklace on a bead board, or how to close a jump ring just right. And so, my plan for B.Emilia was to begin to design and sell unique jewellery handmade from earth-conscious, recycled, and found objects— and for the most part, I did.

I made a decent go of B.Emilia from 2016-2017, but eventually… if I’m being honest with myself (and you, my trustworthy friend)… I lost my confidence and motivation. My one-and-only market stall experience left me feeling juvenile and my jewellery feeling too-homespun sitting next to the many talented, professional makers in Brisbane. Yeah, the Comparison Monster won that battle. Thankfully, she isn’t running the show quite so much these days— knock wood. I was also in the throes of getting my Masters of Public Health degree, which had me enthralled and left me with little energy for much else creativity at the end of the day. It was also through my public health studies where I deepened my learning about planetary health (the inextricable link between the health of the earth and the health of humans— we are made of her after all) and the ancient and ongoing Knowledges that are alive and tended to by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living all across Australia (and for the sake of myth-busting, who live mostly in cities). Through developing relationships with a number of spectacular, deep-thinking, heart-centred teachers and friends, I have been fortunate to peel back some of the the New York City suburb/white settler layers that have been contributing to my inability to ground down, listen up, and tend to my/our collective roots.

Now, a few transformative years and public health academic jobs later, I am revisiting my passion for making, reclaiming, restoring. But this time I am casting my net a bit wider to include the hand-painting, recycled paper making, and practical sewing projects that also fuel my creativity. I am, you guessed it, Beginning Again.

I’m very conscious that efforts to create alternative ways of consuming sometimes run the risk of over-promising and under-delivering, polishing things up a bit too shiny, or even appropriating or profiting off of ways and cultures that aren’t our own. It is because of these awarenesses and my inclination for transparency that BADC is not just about before & afters, but gives space to the messy, rich stories, processes and relationships that lay in-between. A creative conduit for experiencing the big ol’ grey extravaganza, if you will.

Thank you for taking a look around this online space. I hope you’ll consider partnering with me as we carve out some new ideas and remember old ways to live and thrive more respectfully and creatively on our powerful and precious earth together— here in 2022 and beyond.  Thank you for being here and thank you for being you.