This post could have so many titles.

It’s about inspiration. It’s about kindness. It’s about having an idea, and no matter how crazy the idea seems, making it work. It's also what inspired me to create a collection of upcycled garments and bags, emblazoned with words of kindness.

Welcome to my first blog post. It might be a little bit all over the place, that’s how my brain feels all the time. So I hope you can follow, and get something from it.

Important piece of info number 1. When I was living in Colombia, I would watch Youtube videos and listen to podcasts to help me learn and improve my Spanish. I stumbled across this Youtuber called “Marce la Recicladora.” Translated, it basically means Marce the recycler. She is a Youtuber who teaches people about how to recycle, what to put in what bin; visits recycling plants to show what happens to your rubbish; goes through the bins of celebrities to see if they are good recyclers; visits companies who make products from recycled waste and much more. She is also seen in a large number of the videos getting stuck in with the “recicladores” or “reciclAMORes” of Bogota, a group of people who are often looked down upon due to the low status of their job. She helps people to understand the value of this job in Colombian communities at the same time making the recycling workers feel more human, and welcome in their own home, while carrying out their work.

It was not until a long while after I started watching her that I discovered Marce was actually a character played by a woman named Sara. Some time later, now living back in England, I was listening to a podcast called “Vos Podes” (You Can) while walking to work. This is a podcast in which various Colombian women with interesting and amazing lives are interviewed to tell their stories and promote their message to the world. Sara was being interviewed and I became overwhelmed by her kindness and selflessness as a human being.

She spoke of having this crazy idea to help the environment by creating a character who could teach people about recycling. They tried and failed to get many actors to play the role, without being able to find the perfect candidate. In the end Marce la Recicladora was born with Sara playing the role. 

She talked about a time when she was out for a run with a friend. They wanted to have a peaceful run without having to stop and talk to anyone, as Sara was already getting quite well known in Bogota. However, they bumped into a recycler who was looking very down. He talked about his thoughts of suicide and how he was feeling overwhelmed with loneliness and with nowhere to live. Sara and her friend decided to help the man. They gave him a phone and invited him to events where he could make friends and talk to other people. Had it not been for them stopping to talk to him on that day, a life might have ended right then.

This story reminded me that just one moment of kindness, however small, could change someone’s day, or even their life.

I’m telling you this because as humans we sometimes forget that we are all the same. Sometimes we avoid eye-contact with someone on the tube, we think someone saying hello to us when we pass them must be a weirdo, we ignore someone asking for money in the street as if they do not exist. But who is the weirdo really? Try giving eye-contact and a smile back, see what happens. Say good morning, and ask how they are. Say hello, even if you don’t want to give any money. That person may just appreciate being treated like a human. 

Sometimes just a tiny change could have a big enough impact to motivate someone onto something bigger.