The Catholic Charities Thrift Store has been open for about a week now! It has been a truly incredible ride, from carrying furniture and boxes of goods into the store one by one, to building the shelving and storage by hand, to pricing the store, item by single item, with price tags printed onto mailing labels...right down to recruiting hard-working volunteers and a small but incredibly energetic team of staff, quickly training ourselves on the point-of-sale system, and suddenly the doors open and we have ourselves a living breathing store. Simple as that, really.
 |
| A shopper at our store. Photo by Gregory Rec, Portland Press Herald. |
It has truly been one of the most exciting weeks I can remember. It's hard to believe how quickly and easily managing a store like this can really grow on a person - being so involved in its conception and construction really helps me to have a sense of ownership over it. This week I was called 'boss' the first time. The week was full of firsts for me, actually.
And look at this - we're famous.
I've been able to do a bit of shopping at the store too, and I came across a book that looked interesting to me - Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh. My mom has the book and I saw it lying around the house as a kid, but I never gave it much thought. Now, I think I'm ready for it. I just found a quote of his that really resonates with me. (And come check out the store!)
"If we are not happy, if we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace."
-Thich Nhat Hanh
No comments:
Post a Comment