The BE Project – In a world where you can be anything…. what will you be?

Meet Caryl. Caryl is one of the women that helped us start this project.  She is one half of the Woolard’s, the jeweler that created the necklace line.  However, she’s so much more than that.  She’s strong, she’s resilient, she’s a tough cookie…. and this year… she’s going to focus on being more flexible.

What word did you choose and why?

Caryl chose the word Flexible.

“I have spent the last year, focus on being more flexible.. learning how to adapt to anything that comes my way. I don’t want to be reactive to it – I want to just be able to respond to it.  Flexible is kind of a confusing word, it can mean many things.  People often think that you have to be really flexible to do yoga, that’s not really what it means.  Yoga really means more about about becoming flexible with your attitude and being able to adapt to situations. So, I’m not “bodily” flexible.. but in the last year, I’ve become very flexibly mentally.  I think that we should all try to be more flexible so that we can live together in a more grounded fashion and not become so reactive instead of responsible.  Being able to take a moment and let things sink in allows me to handle situations better.”

“For me, I had a complete meltdown over toilet paper not being where it belongs… and that was a turning point for me. I had to sit and cry and the decide – I needed to learn how to be flexible so I could be less reactive.”

What would you tell Caryl two years ago?

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.  Be a little sweeter and more gentle with yourself. Give yourself the space to cry and have all of the feelings.  Surrender to it all. Stop worrying about making things happen, let it happen the way it’s going to happen and just be present in the moments.”

What is The BE Project?

Have you ever stopped to think about who or what you want to be?  Most often there is a word that drives you.  If you sit in the silence and really think about what type of person you want to be… there will be a word, sometimes more than one word, that will guide you along and push you to keep being a better version of yourself.  This photo project has become something that has touched my heart and hopefully those that have participated. I chose to shoot all of the images in black and white because I wanted the least amount of distractions.  Just the human and the word.   This project is the stories of some amazing people, their stories, and what these words mean to them.  Some have participated each of the 3 years we have done this, some are new each time.  It’s an amazing honor to follow along in their journey and document who they are becoming.

Want to read more stories from others in our community and their BE words?  Head over to the BE Project Page and read the stories of the amazing humans that have participated. 

I challenge you to find a word that resonates with you.  Who do you want to strive to be?  What word leads you day to day?  Join us in our project – what word will describe who you want to BE?