When Luigi and I came up with the name Smudge for our company (I still distinctly remember the bar table we were standing at, tequila soda in hand), we did so because for us it represented all of the good and bad of the process of personal growth and development we had embarked on together a couple years prior. Yes, Smudge represented cleansing -- a ritual of literally cleaning the energy around us -- but it also represented what happened when we decided to really dig deep into all the pieces that made us US: you sometimes get dirty. And on the other side of that digging, on the other side of that willingness to be vulnerable and real and brave and yes, dirty, we discovered there was a beautiful depth of meaning and connection that made it all worthwhile.
Smudge was born because we wanted to share all of that process with you: the incredible healing crystals that gave us the energy and grounding power to feel and explore, the tools we found useful when we needed guidance or calm, and the giant patchwork of rituals and habits we developed not as experts, but as two friends who wanted to create a spiritual wellness practice that made sense and made a difference in our lives and how we connected to the world around us.
A year after our official launch, we are in awe of our Smudge community and how it has grown. Nothing makes us happier than texting each other about a picture a customer has sent us with their new crystals or a message they wrote about how their children are getting through a tough time because they learned how to set intentions from a spell we sent them. Have you ever seen two adults ugly cry over a little girl hugging her amethyst? Spoiler alert: It is not pretty.
Today we are relaunching The Dirt, a blog we started but admittedly let slip off the to-do list during our first crazy year as a company. But as we collectively try to navigate an uncertain new and very messy normal, we realized that there is a renewed and urgent need to share more about we might get through this together. A crystal or daily affirmation isn't going to save the world, and we don't have any grand delusions about them doing that (THANK YOU, FRONT LINE HEALTHCARE WORKERS!!), but they just might make each day a little more purposeful and sane than the one before.
Our promise to you is to be honest and authentic, and sincerely invite you to do the same. We'll share what's helping us get through Day 32646436 of quarantine and what is most definitely not (we're not above throwing some shade when necessary).
The good, the bad, and the dirty. Let's do this.
xoxo
Lara
