Gareth Pon x #BlackoutHomelessness

Sometimes giving hope comes in many shapes and forms. I want to help blackout homelessness to restore hope to those who may no longer have it.      My Matte Black Key Necklace says the word BRAVE.   I remember the first time I felt what it was like to feel BRAVE.  I was a child, standing at the edge of a pool.  I was frightened by the idea of jumping into the deep end: I had no idea how deep the pool was, no idea what it would be like to be surrounded by so much water.  I could swim, but the unknown depth made me scared, anxious, and I had haunting thoughts of drowning – I didn’t want to do it. But then something came over me - a feeling that was unrecognizable but that simply said "yes."  I remember that in the split second before I jumped, that the only thing that registered in my mind was that "yes," which overwhelmed my soul and compelled me to leap into the water without another thought. I dived into the deep end of the pool head first with some fear, but mostly trust, knowing that I knew how to swim and believing fully that I would have the ability to find my way to the surface once I was submerged. We’ve all been there: Those moments where, for a split second, you become just strong enough to overcome your fear and jump into something new, launching yourself into the abyss of the unknown. BRAVEry means different things to different people: Composure in a tough time, walking a path that no one has been down before, fighting a battle you may not win, taking on the unknown. However, not all scenarios in which you’re required to be BRAVE are obvious.  Sometimes situations that require BRAVEry are subtle, often subdued, and your BRAVEry is camouflaged so much that it feels subconscious.  It’s in the moments when we can recognize our daily BRAVEry, that you're able to find some of the simplest, yet most significant answers in your life. Yes, it’s easy to be BRAVE when it’s required, but a lot of the time we deny ourselves the ability and opportunity to be BRAVE in the smaller moments when it may be needed the most, like when dealing with smaller decisions and details that often determine the outcome of something much bigger in our lives. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to allow for an internal BRAVEry that lets us see a path beyond where we are right now. The idea of being BRAVE in and of itself is abstract, but making BRAVEry personal and applicable every day is where it finds meaning and substance – being BRAVE in every moment of our lives is where the word finds its true strength. Be BRAVE enough to ask. Be BRAVE enough to trust. Be BRAVE enough to dream. Be BRAVE enough to cry. Be BRAVE enough to live. Be BRAVE enough to fall. Being BRAVE is not just about taking action when something scares us, it's the invisible motion that moves your soul to a point of no return.  BRAVEry is your own collection of words that give you strength to move forward on your own personal path.