Project Rainbow Unicorn
Use is preservation
Intro note: For copyright purposes this is project rainbow unicorn but in my head I call this Project Lisa Frank.
When I was a little girl, I acquired a coveted sheet of sparkly Lisa Frank stickers. Most 90s kids will conjure up the image of a unicorn, resplendent with rainbow horn – this was my favorite Lisa Frank design (with the rainbow cheetah print close behind.) I carefully saved these stickers, plotting and dreaming of the perfect opportunity to use them. The ones I used (adorning my dresser, sorry mom) brought me great joy to see them every day. The ones I kept saving? I found years later in a box of stuff from my room. While they had great nostalgic value, they no longer had the zing of being life’s greatest treasure.
This experience isn’t unique to me, of course. We all have a version of the thing we saved for a special occasion, or that perfect placement, and perhaps there it still sits. The encouragement to “use the fine china!” for your everyday delightful eating or entertaining is extrapolated into almost every aspect of life.
When I drafted the business plan for Perrywinks, I laid out a handful of values that were critical to the culture of the shop and were used to help make decisions on everything, from the type of building to the products I carry to the staff I hire. One of those values is Whimsy and Wonder, which I have to imagine is not often found in business’ launch documents.
That’s why, when I first reached out to Patrick at Jingleheimer to name my dream shop, we informally dubbed our mission Project Lisa Frank. When naming Perrywinks, and understanding the culture behind the shop, we wanted to capture that feeling of boldness plus whimsy, integrating things we love and that bring little sparks of joy into the everyday.
Sometimes I fall under the trap of needing “permission,” or perhaps more accurately a good excuse, to roll out the items or practices I have deemed worthy of special occasions. And true, some things do need an extra layer of consideration or logistics. The fine china usually needs washed by hand, after all. I don’t want a sinking feeling of plopping my sparkly beloved sticker on any old surface. So how do we cultivate the in-between, the boldness plus the prudence, to both use the Lisa Frank stickers in the season and in the way that they bring true joy, without wasting them?
From Wicked’s Fiero to Socrates, avoiding the "unexamined life” seems to be the way forward.
I find myself operating with imaginary constraints, made up rules that either no longer apply or never did. Part of the mental exercise I’ve had to practice is understanding why those blocks exist and dismantling the reasons I’ve chosen to avoid things. Again, we could just be talking about stickers here! But it’s such a pervasive issue for many people! <re-state; add link to source>
Many theater friends may be familiar with the production “You Can’t Take it With You.” The culture of Alice’s family, which is chaotic and at first glance a little “too much," is rooted in this concept that boils down to “one life, why not?” This has been my greatest motivation for launching Perrywinks, and I hope to encourage as many other people along the way. Picturing myself at the end of my life timeline, looking back along the years of opportunity, I don’t want to regret making myself small and putting my dreams on the backburner. In whatever way this manifests, from Lisa Frank stickers or launching an audacious business model, you can’t take it with you. So squeeze all the joy out of life you can, in whatever way makes sense for you.
In one of my favorite books, Psalm for the Wildbuilt by Becky Cambers, Allalae, god of small comforts. I wonder if the lack of ritual is a block for the little joys – without a reason, it takes a mental effort to take the leap. If it’s helpful, adopt your version of Allalae as an encouraging structure. By stepping out in indulgence of things that bring you joy, it’s an honor to live a life that delights in small comforts.
For my kids, it’s eating their collection of candy from Halloween to Easter. Most of it is saved until it’s stale and the flavors mingle in the ziplock. How much better to indulge during the season! As we grow older, we’re presented with myriad of joyful, whimsical, yet unpractical options.
Use is preservation
Use of ideas, languages, to items like printing press blocks, to inconsequential yet meaningful items like stickers. Stored away, they are kept safely but altogether lost. Alternatively, if used, they are woven into the fabric of your time on earth, memorialized, known. Brea Frey uttered this phrase at a letterpress workshop I attended, and lodged in my subconscious.
If you’re on board with Project Rainbow Unicorn, I’ve put together a whole slew of inspiration. Things to do at home, little challenges, and resources like books or songs that I’ve found helpful to cultivate this way of living. Find everything below as your one-stop collection, or follow on Instagram for a daily cadence of ideas and encouragement.
Finding the balance
I can already see a certain percentage of you scoffing. “I can't afford that!” Or, “if you do this every day it's not special anymore!” Totally, 100% agree. The magic of this is the permission, remember. The “no reason needed." We're encouraging from the shores of “I never do this unless it's Christmas day or my birthday", and saying, those joys are allowed whenever the mood suits you. Tipping over into the frenzy of making every moment count, maximizing whimsy, can be just as damaging draining overwhelming to maintain that. This is a mindset unlock, to rethink when the " right “ time is and lower the bar to doing special things. But the bar is not gone.
Looking ahead to Perrywinks
Starting this shop is a gigantic version of this concept - not keeping myself small, and putting my dreams into reality. My hope is the shop and surrounding culture facilitates this in anyone who visits or even is part of our broader digital community. We’ll give a space to build confidence and tangible tools and materials to help folks step out in confidence building those little moments of joy and whimsy.
Some of this may be old news to you, and I readily acknowledge I have a lot to learn! If you want to share anything related to Project Rainbow Unicorn, or any other upcoming projects, I’d love to hear from you! Shoot me an email, or DM on Instagram.
Let’s build something really cool together.