Why 320Living?

I get asked this question a lot. Before, I really didn’t have an answer. “I’ve always been creative,” or “I like to do many things so I’ve lumped it into one brand,” was my usual go to. But when I had time to sit back and think about it, I did have one.

On January 7, 2012, I blissfully entered into a marriage that I thought would be my last. My forever. My end. I spent 10 years from my last relationship going through counseling, exploring the traumas of my childhood and past, working them out to be better and CHOOSE better especially because I was a single mother to an autistic child and I wanted to do better for both of us. I had realized that my wounds were very much in control no matter how in control I felt. But this marriage ended up being the “coup de grâce” that nearly took me out, folks. Lawd!

But what came from it was something beautiful. In retrospect, I can see that now.

It started nicely enough as we prepared for our wedding ceremony and reception: I created and hand made every last detail from invitations to thank you notes and decorations from paper. I loved going to Michael’s, Joann Fabrics and Hobby Lobby buying things I needed for whatever ideas that came to mind, while still trying to be as economical as I could. I even began to get other jobs for invitations and made a good bit of money. I once sold my blue flower poms for $25 each when it only cost me just $2 to make them from paper streamers I bought at Dollar Tree!

But our union began to darken and sour almost immediately and it was hard to find spaces where I could create much less breathe and have peace. I knew that I wanted to do something that encompassed my creativity while offering solutions to others with my organization. I set the thoughts aside, frankly because I was too stressed to think past just having ideas. I was suffocating with stress, weight gain, insomnia and a level of anxiety I’d never experienced.

Until the day I figured out that as long as I was in the kitchen, my ex-husband wouldn’t bother me. And that’s when I began to cook. ALL THE TIME. Sunday’s were “new recipe” days where I would find the most complicated and time consuming meal prep just to get a break from him. When he wasn’t there, I was pulling a Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meal for my son Julius and myself. Every single day, I was in that kitchen - escaping. Every. Single. Day. Trying to find a sliver of peace.

The story does continue with it’s temporary highs and many devastating lows, however, I say this to drive home this point: Don’t you DARE for one second think that the darkness, abuse, struggle, pain and hurt that you have experienced in your life can’t be turned into something greater for your own good. I am so thankful for my story and even more grateful that I don’t look like what I’ve been through.

Don’t despise your beginning, your story. No matter how messy it is. The things that you have imagined for yourself CAN be topped. By Him. It’s in the trusting, believing and honestly, takes a lot off of your shoulders. It “all works together.” For YOU. You just have to find the good in it all, your #ncjt

I wanted to create something that would help me change my beliefs about the direction my life was going. I wanted to believe in possibility. 🤍 That, my friend, is 320Living.