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Heart Extensions

Posted by Brigitte Farrell · August 30, 2020

Please don’t send our positive pillowcases to someone who’s really hurting. Please don’t send them nice pajamas. Don’t get me wrong. Faceplant is designed to help you feel good before you Faceplant into your pillow each night. We love to hear when people enjoy it enough to gift it to their tribe. But pajamas or platitudes aren’t enough when someone really needs our attention and our love.

Depression and mental health issues have been severely exacerbated by social distancing and Covid shutdowns. Gentle souls are paying the price. For those most vulnerable to feeling alone and isolated, our current existence can be too much to bear. The homeless, who are already challenged, now are feared if they don’t have a mask. But depression and mental health issues aren’t limited to the homeless… sometimes they’re much closer to home.

I’ve recently lost someone so very dear to me. Someone so loved, by so many, and yet unable to feel or experience the love we all shared. I can read and re-read the memories written online and see how important he was to so many people… just how many hearts he touched. And I can’t help but wonder if we could have helped. Would one more phone call have reminded him of our love? Two? Twenty? A card? A package? It’s easy to cycle into guilt, questioning what I personally could or should have done differently. But that path serves no one and my pain is raw and real enough without it. Hundreds of people have reached out to our family in some way to express their sorrow and their love. In a perfect world, with perfect concert, could that expression of unified love have reached his heart in time?

These questions are rhetorical, and the answers won’t change the outcome for my family. But what we all choose to do today might change tomorrow.

So today, instead of pajamas or platitudes, I’m asking you to share your heart. Please think first of your tight circle of friends and spiral out from there. Reach out to those who may need a (virtual) hug. Remind them how very special they are to you. Call them. Email them. Facetime or Zoom. Send a hand-written letter they can hold and re-read with a photo of the last time you enjoyed time together. Open your heart to them. Ask them what they need. Ask how you can support them during this particularly challenging time. Then ask them again next week, and the next. They may not have an answer, but asking the question, just might be enough.

Thank you for the love and prayers already shared with our family. Thank you in advance for honoring my request to graciously extend yourself today to someone dear to your heart.

In gratitude and love,

Communication

Posted by Brigitte Farrell · August 05, 2020

I’m struggling with the news and social media today. The anger and judgements weigh heavy on my heart. There are so many ways to consider every issue, and it’s difficult not to become attached to our beliefs or positions. As the owner of a company whos’ primary focus is enhancing good, quality sleep, I know that questions which trouble our hearts, also influence our sleep. As much as I’d like to believe that awesome bamboo jammies and loungewear will sooth our souls enough to sleep like babies, I personally need a little emotional well-being to go along with them! It troubles me to see friends at odds with loved ones, and more than ever, I think it’s important to remember that our facts and our positions do not have to define us or the people we love.

Based on the facts of the time, the world used to be flat. But (most of us) know differently now. This is the best explanation I can offer to justify why the world of pure fact is not my only home. I co-exist in the world of spirit, the utterances of the heart that do not yet have verifiable evidence to back them up. Dialog sometimes necessitates substantiation, but it’s important to remember that a conversation is like a dance. A successful exchange is one in which we are heard and respected. Each move is one to balance your partner, enhance their flow. We don’t need someone to agree with us to feel respected and to flow with them. We need our viewpoints to be acknowledged and heard. To feel respected, we need to be respected.

Particularly on social media, it’s easy for conversations to digress into what I call “competitive conversation”. That’s where instead of being thoughtfully considered, ones’ perspectives and opinions are discounted with practiced rebuttals, defenses or facts that may or may not be true. As we know, often what are believed as facts change, and they are merely a piece of the puzzle. But in a competitive conversation, facts are King.

Fair and respectful communication is the foundation for peaceful love in a relationship or a society. It takes attention and patience. If we choose to dance together, to respect one another, we cannot use power to force our truth on another. We don’t jolt our dance partner into position when they err. We flow partially to their misstep and gently guide them back to the dance floor. We may not agree or understand each other today, but when our viewpoints and perspectives are delivered and received with mutual respect and love, we are able to hear and perhaps shift a little. If we can trust both utterances from spirit and physical evidence, we can venture beyond the edge of believed facts to find truth.

We cannot individually change the many woes of the world. We can change whether our focus is on openness and love or on division. Today may we all commit to love and connection, to dancing and flowing. Let’s disregard the divisive language we see and move back to a meeting of minds, a conversation between friends.

May your heart be pure enough to sleep like a baby tonight.

Sweet Dreams Always.

Meet Emily - Our Intern! ❤️

Posted by Brigitte Farrell · July 23, 2020

It’s National Intern Day… and for the first time ever, we had an intern this summer.

Meet Emily!

Hi! I’m Emily, the intern, and I'm a rising senior at Auburn University achieving a Bachelor of Science in Apparel Design and Production Management with a Minor in Marketing. My major requires me to complete an internship to graduate and these unprecedented times meant my glorified dream of summer in New York City was crushed. Little did I know, that was going to be the best thing that’s happened to me. As I frantically searched for another opportunity, every door was slammed in my face and I began to lose hope that I would intern at all this summer. Days before the deadline I had a virtual interview with Brigitte, and I knew it was meant to be. Being from a small town in Alabama, I had never been to Tampa and didn’t know what to expect from the city or this internship. First day jitters quickly turned into laughter and I found myself surrounded by a second family I never knew I needed. Working here has exceeded all my expectations and I’m so grateful for the amount of trust and responsibility I’ve been given. Being here has reminded me why I love design and it continues to affirm my passion for working in the fashion industry.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT ME:

I love traveling! Last summer was my first time in another country and I completed a design intensive study abroad at University of Arts London. One day I’d like to spend a year working with fashion in another country and expand my knowledge of the industry. I also love art and I’ve always been passionate about the connection between art and fashion. Art is a powerful way of storytelling and it gives people a voice when they normally wouldn’t have one. Experience in the arts is what made me fall in love with designing and I want to be a voice and a light for other’s when they need it most.

I made the spontaneous, and somewhat reckless, decision to adopt a dog freshman year of college. He lived in my dorm secretly (but if anyone asks I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about) and my friends watched him when I went to class every day. He became an emotion support dog and my best friend. We’re always a package deal and if you make me choose, I’ll probably pick him over you! This was Andy and I’s Halloween costume inspired by Fairly Odd Parents and Trixie!

I’ve been extremely active ever since I was little, and my parents decided to put my energy into something productive: gymnastics. I did competitive gymnastics for ten years and started running when I was 13. Going to college and no longer having the opportunity to do track and field made me realize how much I missed it. Three years later I'm training for my second half marathon and this time adding a 10k the day before.

Something I love more than I like to admit is Disney. I’ve loved The Walt Disney Company for as long as I can remember. Yes, I love the parks, but my passion came from what the company stands for and the way they carry themselves. They understand the importance of individual happiness and show this not only through what they create, but through how they foster relationships. I would love to intern with the costume department at Walt Disney World and have the opportunity to create magic and happiness for so many people.

HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FACEPLANT FAVORITES:

Because of the amazing Faceplant family, I don’t feel like an intern, I feel like a valuable asset to their team. I’m in complete denial about leaving this place in a month, but I’m taking advantage of every second I have left with this incredible company!

We feel the same way, Emily!

❤️

Y'all are Heroes in our book

Posted by Brigitte Farrell · June 14, 2020

If Covid has taught us anything, it’s taught us to improvise, adapt and find creative ways to care for ourselves, our loved ones and our communities. When we couldn’t get face coverings soon enough, we made them… by the thousands. Americans who had never sewn before pitched in, then companies caught up, and now there are cute face masks all over the market. One of our favorite customers hand-stitched buttons to hundreds of Faceplant headbands which were then donated to nurses around the country to protect their ears from the discomfort of face masks.

No hand sanitizer? No problem… first we made it ourselves and then, with their core business and incomes gone, many local distilleries adapted quickly to provide sanitizers to their communities for free or at nominal cost.

I cannot begin to highlight the heroes in our medical communities, and the heroism of our teachers isn’t far behind. In a matter of weeks, they adapted their entire way of teaching to support our children’s learning. (Now granted, we definitely played more video games at our house than normal during Corona-cation, but that’s kind of on me, right?)

The protests sparked by the horrific murder of George Floyd have demonstrated a similar heroism. Despite some small rough patches and looting, the thousands upon thousands of Americans who have shown up to peacefully protest for long overdue change have demonstrated restraint, resilience and positive plans for our future.

My point is this. I’m proud of us. ALL of us. We’ve demonstrated love for each other, strength, perseverance, resilience and respect. We’ve dug in and made difficult choices and commitments. Maybe we haven’t done everything perfectly, but we’ve certainly done it well. We’ve demonstrated our commitment to getting through this together.

Faceplant Dreams was established in 2008 and we’re located in the vibrant and diverse neighborhood of Ybor City. We chose this location because we love the community we found here, and we’re committed to improving it. We believe that education is the best path to equality. If you agree, please consider supporting Academy Prep of Tampa.

Academy Prep provides an un-matched education to students in our own underserved community that sets them up for a lifetime of success. Please consider helping if you can.

Let’s all get educated, shall we?

Crafting and Relaxing Pt. 2

Posted by Brigitte Farrell · June 06, 2020

The foundation of Faceplant based on the concept that how you feel before you ‘Faceplant’ into your pillow each night inspires your dreams. And if you feel good before you Faceplant, those dreams will be sweet ones.

It’s a pretty solid logic and our goal is to provide products to inspire happy Faceplanting, but there are loads of other ways to feel good. Sure, we encourage sweet messages on your pillows and cozy bamboo pajamas, but only as an aside to filling your life with many things that help you to feel joy, love and peace.

Enter crafting. We find deep relaxation in doing the things we love and for us, crafting is one of them. We have a crafty group here at Faceplant, and it’s always fun to see and share what our team is working on when they aren’t working on Faceplant.

Meet our very own Mary Alice (Hobby Knitter):

Mary Alice is our hobby knitter. Did you know that our very first washable organic cotton facial wipes were originally a knitted version hand made by Mary Alice?

More recently, she has knitted some beautiful gifts for our Digital Marketing Manager, Jen. Jen’s arm was severely injured in an accident and she was growing tired of protecting the skin grafts with unattractive medical wraps. Being the fashionable girl that she is, she tried wrapping it with Faceplant Bamboo headbands for a while, but they didn’t quite cover right. Enter Mary Alice’s beautiful solution: Hand-knitted arm wraps in a selection of beautiful colors and soft cozy fibers. This is a true win-win. Mary Alice relaxes. Jen receives the bounty of her crafting.

Mary Alice learned to knit from her babysitter when she was 7 and has never stopped. She says the feel of the yarn and the repetitive motion soothe her soul.

Crafting and relaxing. It’s just one of the things we do that bring us joy before we Faceplant into our pillows each night. What brings you your greatest joy?