Made with Love

Made with Love… with affection, fondness and enthusiasm. Read about our philosophy and join us in spreading the love on Instagram or other social channels!

Made with Love, of self—our identity—what makes us unique and how we serve our heart.

We adore this quote by Amin Maalouf, discovered via Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings, which is a beautiful way of illustrating how wrapped up our identity is with love, and as Maria says the “insightful exploration of difference, allegiance, and the underlying commonalities of the human experience, timelier than ever in our culture of divisive Otherness”. The quote by Amin goes like this:

A person’s identity … is like a pattern drawn on a tightly stretched parchment. Touch just one part of it, just one allegiance, and the whole person will react, the whole drum will sound.

Imagine how delicious that symphony is with love!

Made with Love, of family, friends, humans—because of, and despite our genetics. The loving kindness toward people that we feel as a connection [to others] in our social tribes, communities, and even strangers as part of a larger worldview.

Made with Love, of lovers—passionate and compassionate love. Fiery short term love, romantic love, true love and long term romance capable of incredible resilience.

Made with Love, of nature—Mother earth and all of her living things and organisms: air, water, soil, and fire; the flora and fauna, the animal kingdom, fungi, the bugs, bees. Your pets, your garden, your environment.

Made with Love, of sharing. A love of baking and cooking where our emotions become part of our recipes and the recipients’ experience as we share around the communal table. Or gardening, and the bounty of flowers, vegetables, fruits and herbs we grow and pass forward to others… Of putting together one's ideas or means for a common benefit: love, compassion, happiness.

Made with Love, of creating in an artistic pursuit. In 2019 in the Harvard Gazette, an article was written about Ellen Winner who explored “The Aesthetic Attitude to Art.” We love this quote:

My best guess is that art itself is not a direct product of natural selection, but is a byproduct of our bigger brains — which themselves evolved for survival reasons. Art is just something we cannot help but do. While we may not need art to survive, our lives would be entirely different without it. The arts are a way of making sense of and understanding ourselves and others, a form of meaning-making just as important as are the sciences.

Reading in Psychology Today, from an article back in 2015 entitled Loving the Process Means Everything for Creativity, the renowned psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wanted to study where, in every day life, were people really happy. Quoting the author, “He studied artists and scientists, trying to understand what about their work or their use of time that made it worthwhile. Was it money, fame, fortune, purpose?" Mihaly explains why enjoyment is so critical for creativity:

Perhaps the most important quality, the one that is most consistently present in all creative individuals, is the ability to enjoy the process of creation for its own sake.

Without this trait, Mihaly says that creators wouldn’t have that innate striving… they’d go more for commercial pursuits or where there’s more predictability. There’s risk in being a creator and putting your soul on a plate everyday. We get it.

We love the part where the author goes on to explain that this enjoyment of creating fosters what Mihaly called “flow.” Not a new concept for sure but we like how he describes it. He said,

When we enter a state of near-unconscious ecstasy: we lose track of time, our environment, and ultimately ourselves. We are enraptured in the work, where our focus is as intense as a child looking through the window of an ice cream store on a summer day. This state of flow is a surefire sign that the work we’re doing is meaningful and fulfilling—that something within it ignites our curiosity, where rewards are secondary, but most importantly we do it because it would kill us not to.

It’s a magical force, love. No matter how many ways we feel it. It mesmerizes us, brings us to tears, gives us comfort and other intense emotions.

At Poet and/the Bench we feature and celebrate our carefully curated collection of artists whose passion is to imbue their art with love and to elicit love in the ones who enjoy and appreciate it. For all the kinds of love everyday, we invite you to join in on the fun with us as we unveil our first-ever public mural.

#madewithlovemural #pinkbearmural to spread a universal message of love. Artist @momohead62 interpreted our brief with references to the Northern California environment of our shop; the inclusiveness of identity we express in ensuring all are welcome, feel a sense of belonging and value; and in the most delightful way that ultimately is about being made with love–as is our vibe!

💓 Spread a universal message of love 💓

1. FOLLOW @poetandthebench on Insta, FB or Pinterest
2. VISIT us at 11 Throckmorton Avenue, head to our side entrance on El Paseo Lane and locate the Made With Love Mural at our back window facing the lane by the restaurant Paseo.
3. TAKE A PIC with you and our mural—individually, with someone you love, your pet, a bunch of pals… get creative (but keep it clean!)
4. POST your pic and TAG @poetandthebench AND with 3 HASHTAGS: #poetandthebench #madewithlovemural and #pinkbearmural

FINE PRINT:
Terms of Use
By using the hashtags #poetandthebench #madewithlovemural and #pinkbearmural you agree to allow Poet and/the Bench to use your photo and/or drawing for marketing initiatives including, but not limited to, social media posts, video, or other digital media without payment or other consideration. You also irrevocably agree to authorize Poet and/the Bench to edit, alter, copy, exhibit, publish, or distribute these photos and/or drawings for any lawful purpose. In addition, you waive any right to inspect or approve the finished product wherein your likeness appears. Additionally, you waive any right to royalties or other compensation arising or related to the use of the photo and/or drawing. For questions, please contact us at poetandthebench.com/pages/inquiries