{"id":260304,"date":"2021-11-07T19:05:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-08T00:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chooselovemovement.org\/?p=260304"},"modified":"2021-11-07T19:05:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T00:05:00","slug":"30-days-of-gratitude-small-business-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.peraltadev.com\/chooselove\/30-days-of-gratitude-small-business-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Days of Gratitude – Small Business Feature"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\tAs we continue celebrating 30 days of gratitude, we will feature small businesses that we are grateful for. This week, we are featuring our Choose Love Ambassador in Rhode Island, Terry Lee Cafferty. Terry Lee is a professional photographer and has created a line of greeting cards including Choose Love-themed ones. She donates a portion of her proceeds to the Choose Love Movement!

<\/strong>
Why is it important to you to support the Choose Love Movement?<\/strong>\u00a0Being an Ambassador for the Choose Love Movement is something that is near and dear to my heart. It has been a true calling for me since I met Scarlett in 2016 and learned about Jessie\u2019s message and her mission.\u00a0Being a part of this movement was no brainer for me because deep down I knew it was now part of my purpose to help spread this message around the world if we are going to build a better future for the generations to come.\u00a0I feel Jesse\u2019s message to the world is one of the most important aspects needed in the healing of our mental health and in elevating the human condition at this moment in time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

My brand embodies connection, love, humor and moving humanity forward with products and a heartfelt business strategy.\u00a0My social responsibility is at the heart of my operations by donating a portion of my proceeds to JLCL.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0How do you practice the Choose Love Formula in your life?<\/strong>\u00a0I practice the Choose Love Formula every single day!When I experience anxiety, grief, or the thousands of negative thoughts we all tend to experience in our daily lives, I turn to these principals and find peace of mind when I use them.\u00a0Finding the\u00a0Courage\u00a0to be honest, to take care of and be more unapologetically myself every day by overcoming fear and choosing LOVE instead, is key to a happy and fulfilled lifestyle.\u00a0Practicing\u00a0Gratitude\u00a0is an everyday experience when I focus on all the good in my life and what I do have, rather than dwell on what is going wrong, experiencing imposter syndrome or envy.<\/p>\n

Gratitude allows me to celebrate others by using these emotions to empower myself and know that all good things are there.<\/p>\n

Even in difficult, challenging times we can be grateful for all of it – the good and bad.\u00a0Forgiveness\u00a0is the key to it all, really. I ask myself every day who I need to forgive and how I can do better in that area. Sometimes it\u2019s a process and forgiveness seems impossible. Then I remember to see beyond the obvious circumstances, and I remember Scarlett and Jessie and the Sandy Hook shooting, and how the need to love and be loved is at the core of it all. We all want mercy so it\u2019s important to remember to GIVE mercy, as well.\u00a0Compassion in Action\u00a0is not a hard one for me because having an empathic personality, I truly enjoy doing for others.It\u2019s my jam \u2026 to a fault sometimes, but that\u2019s ok. Let me explain. What I learned through the Choose Love Movement and the work of Dr. Chris Kukk, is the difference between having empathy for someone and compassion in action. When I feel empathy for a person, I tend to feel their pain and thinking this is a good thing, it\u2019s actually not! When empathy for a situation is something I take on as my own, my brain tells me it\u2019s real and my cortisol levels go up as if I\u2019m actually experiencing that person’s pain. But, by practicing\u00a0compassion in action\u00a0\u2026 instead of going in the hole with them, I can offer a ladder and a hand to get them out of the hole which is actually more productive and helpful. This kind of practice in compassion actually increases dopamine and serotonin in the brain and makes us feel better while we make another person feel better by helping them. So cool, right?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>What inspires you each day in your business?<\/strong>\u00a0My inspiration comes from celebrating connection between loved ones and our communities. My intention is to positively impact others by helping you connect with your favorite people. I build unique products providing communication with a platform to share and preserve life\u2019s stores while inspiring others through creativity, art and dialogue. Knowing I can help others see the awe and wonder in life is everything to me because everywhere I look these days, there are people who are collectively struggling to connect with one another. My cards, my photography, and my art is inspired by the heart & soul of childhood, nature, ordinary moments and life\u2019s adventures.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>What\u2019s a fun fact about the work you do?<\/strong>\u00a0The idea of designing greeting cards haunted my daydreams for a very long time.I\u2019ve wanted to make greeting cards since the 80\u2019s, but always knew that if it were possible to make a good living from these cards, I would promise myself and God to give back in some special way. When I learned about Choose Love, I knew in my gut I had found my purpose for making these cards 30+ years later. What I didn\u2019t realize is that all these years of experience would gift me with the multitude of images and quotes I\u2019ve collected to work with!! You know what they say, \u201cdon\u2019t give up on your daydream!” But, still, I struggled to make it happen. Raising a family and owning a portrait business kept that dream simmering on the back burner. Then in February of 2019, we all found ourselves facing a worldwide pandemic, the whole world shut down and the word \u201clockdown\u201d became our reality. It was crystal clear now and I knew this was the time so\u00a0Sending Love\u00a0was born. More than ever, I felt people needed to connect in meaningful ways and couldn\u2019t get out to purchase cards, so \u2026 that daydream of mine was now a reality!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>What do you appreciate about being a small local business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being a local business in a small town is rewarding because of the relationships I\u2019m able to make, hands down! It\u2019s all about relationship in portraiture \u2026 the relationship with each other,\u00a0between photographer and subject and ultimately between subject and viewer. In addition, I\u2019m grateful for the opportunity to give back to the community by donating my time and services to worthwhile causes to help make the world a better place, positively impacting children\u00a0– especially the work I do with the Choose Love Movement. My greeting cards and my artwork take me out into the community in ways that help me connect, uplift and make a difference in a person\u2019s life by allowing them to see themselves, the beauty of life and each other in a real way. Of course, my ultimate intention for my Sending Love Greeting Card Collection is to transform into a worldwide business, but as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, \u201cLife is a journey, not a destination.\u201d And so it goes \u2026Thank you to everyone who chooses me to preserve your stories and make your moments tangible. I\u2019m nothing without the community behind me. I can\u2019t change the whole world, but I can help change my small part of the world.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tVisit Terry Lee’s Website
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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