Be Kind & Polite...

My entry into a Spoonflower affirmations challenge...

... and the world will be right.

AKA, Aunt Lucy's advice to Paddington Bear.

Let's face it, without getting into details, there is a lot that's not right about the world today. And sometimes it's particularly jarring that much of what we consume for personal entertainment is also not in the "feel good" category.

A couple of months ago, I challenged a friend of my husband's to tell me what was uplifting in his life. He mentioned family and things that he was grateful for, which was good; it's important to recognize and embrace gratitude. But things that you're grateful for may not necessarily be things that are uplifting in your life. When I made that distinction, it made him think... which was also good.

I'm taking the circuitous route to saying that much can be learned from the best of children's movies. They can provide the uplifting moments that we all need, moments away from the daily grind of being pounded by what's wrong in the world. For an hour and a half, they feed you good vibes and you may come away with a new outlook on life. I'm not talking about commercial grade Santa Claus and Easter Bunny fluff; the underlying messages in the movies that I'm referring to have real life applications for all ages.

By the way, I'm not trying to preach from a sewing blog. How all of this fits the theme will make sense by the end of this post.

---

Check out crafty classes at Creativebug! [affiliate link]

---

Hubby and I watched Paddington 2 late last year. I was drawn to it by the rave reviews; I had never before noticed Paddington in any format, neither book nor (the first) movie. The action was humming along charmingly when the bear made a statement that hit my inner pause button:

"Aunt Lucy said that if we're kind and polite,
the world will be right."

It was as though time stopped and a spotlight turned on. My other half and I looked at each other and that was it: our new mantra was born.

How can a bear from (deepest, darkest) Peru have such insight?

[Or — as I've been wondering ever since — what writer is responsible for crafting that line? Paul King? Simon Farnaby? Original creator Michael Bond? Someone else entirely? Whoever you are, thank you; you've literally changed my life.]

Good words, blah design...

We've been doing our best to apply that philosophy in our everyday interactions. It's not always easy and it's not always top of mind as the first reaction. (Hubby: How can we be kind and polite to such a *&^#%??) But we have to choose to do so in all situations in order to make a difference. Furthermore, even though not everyone is doing it, someone doing it makes a difference.

As to how this ties in to my sewing world, the graphic that you see at the top of this post was my entry into one of Spoonflower's design competitions in February, called Affirmations. While I was enthralled by the affirmation itself, I never really did have the time to hone the fabric design aspect of it. I wasn't entirely happy with the final result, but I entered anyway, just to spread the thought.

The competition revealed many, many fabric designs that were far, far superior to mine. However, no other affirmation resonated with me as much as this one. Too many were too self-centric. I believe that today's world has been made worse by propagating the idea that we are all brilliant, in all ways, at all times. We need our egos to be healthy, not artificially inflated.

Take that for what it's worth.

---

Watch live classes for FREE at CreativeLive! [affiliate link]

---

Recall how I said a few paragraphs back that it's not always top of mind to be kind and polite?

Makerist held another of their $2 sales in late March. Since I opened up my shop there last December, I've joined in on their $2 sales with a couple of patterns that have always been available on my website for (about) $2: the Bundled Up Bindle Bag and the Load it Up Laptop Slipcase.

Here's the thing: I don't like to have sales on my patterns. I always feel as though I'm being unfair to those who purchased at full price. So when I put those two patterns up on Makerist, I actually increased their price, just so I could lower them to $2 during these events. (Hey, I didn't say I was adverse to raising prices.)

The sale was so successful for Makerist that they decided to extend it by two days. However, since each designer has to confirm participation in any of their sales by interacting with an online form, we had to reconfirm that we wanted to extend our participation. The form that I clicked on did not have any options to add or subtract patterns that were on sale. My assumption — and who would think differently? — was that only the two patterns I had previously indicated would be included in the ongoing sale.

Words to live by...

Imagine my shock a couple of days later when I checked my sales report and discovered that ALL of my patterns were being sold for $2! (And yes, that price point triggered sales across the board, let me tell you.) I immediately dashed off a message to Makerist's customer support with a subject line entirely in capital letters followed by three exclamation marks.

Yeah. :: sigh ::

It was a bit of a "be kind and polite" failure. :: hangs head in shame ::

Actually, in my defense, it's not as if the message itself was abusive. Here's what I wrote: "I joined your recent $2 sale and put two of my patterns up for sale. (The ones that were originally priced at $3.) I checked my account today and see that when you offered us the opportunity to extend the sale for two more days that you put up ALL of my paid patterns for $2. THIS WAS NOT THE INTENTION. What do you propose to do about this mistake??"

If I were to write it again, the only change I'd probably make would be to remove one of the question marks. (My excuse for the all caps is that I had no ability to format in italics via their contact form.) But obviously, there is a learning curve involved with all things and being consistently kind and polite is — unfortunately — one of them.

Remember my fabric fortune cookie?

But I will try, and try again.

Let me be clear, however, that being kind and polite does not mean being a pushover. It doesn't mean that you absolve anyone — whether person or business — from being accountable for (their) mistakes. If I make a boo-boo, it's on me, but if you make a boo-boo, it's on you. In this case, Makerist made a big boo-boo and I wasn't about to take the hit for them.

I'm happy to report that everything worked out in the end, although the resolution itself was only realized this past week. (At first, it actually required a second email from me four days later; I believe I was as kind and polite as I could be under the circumstances.) They did take full responsibility for the problem and proposed a high road solution that worked in both my favour and the affected customers' favour. So good on them for doing the right thing.

I'm pretty sure both parties learned a lesson from this fiasco.

[Those of you who sell patterns online might wonder how I'm feeling about the Makerist marketplace in general. I'm still very much on the fence about them as they still have issues galore... not to mention that the currency conversion — from USD pricing to being paid in euros — drives me batty. But the reality is, Bluprint has not yet come back with an alternative on this side of the ocean.]

This was the fortune hidden inside...

Turns out that it's not always easy to be kind and polite, but I'm going to keep repeating the mantra until it's truly second nature. It's worth it and will make a difference.

Now, if only people could be kind and polite on social media... or is that an impossibility?