One of my greatest joys in life is watching the people I love grow into themselves.
But while we can be so attuned to the people around us, and cheer them on as they mature, noticing the subtle growth in oneself is one of the hardest things to do.
But then you catch a reflection of yourself in a fleeting moment and see someone new — someone you like even more than you liked them before. And you realize that person is you — just you with a hell of a lot more wisdom.
This same phenomenon happened to us over here at DORÉ, née Atelier Doré.
We woke up one day and realized our outsides didn’t match our insides anymore.
Two years ago, when we grew from Garance Doré to Atelier Doré, shedding the skin of what was my personal project to finally truly honoring and making space for the team that was behind me, we were seeing ourselves as a creative studio, creating stories for ourselves, but also for others. Hence the name Atelier, this behind the scenes place where people get together and create.
But slowly we realized that we were too independent, too much ourselves. We’re different than a creative studio, we’re different than a media project, we’re different than a brand, we’re a woman and we’re beyond labels. We grow and evolve at the rhythm of our own pulse – and this new day is one where we embrace all of it.
From our beauty to our fragility and from our glories to our mistakes, we’ve matured into something we didn’t necessarily expect to become, but are so glad we did. That’s the beauty of growth. When we chart out our lives, we can never account for growth, because it’s not something you can plan for, it’s only something you can hope for.
A lot of soul searching has taken place behind the scenes.
Who are we in this entirely new world?
Who do we want to be for you, our cherished reader?
We want to be a place of beauty, of consciousness, a place where you stop running, where you make peace with yourselves. A space that embraces the slow, that remembers that creativity is our birthright. A world of inspiration. I could go on forever, but I’ll let you make yourself at ease while we unveil ourselves in the days to come.
You might notice a few changes over here, not only right away (hello DORÉ! hello sleek new site design! hello new deeper colors!) but in the coming weeks and months as we dive into our growth and continue to refine ourselves.
Don’t worry, we’re still the same curious people with a sense of humor, just with a little more intention and heaps of reflection as we step into this new version of ourselves.
In honor of our own growth, this month on the site we’re going to be talking about all things “growing up.” Can you “grow up” at any age? How does one cultivate growth in their lives? Must one really grow, up or are we always going to be a kid at heart?
We’re going to take the month to reflect on our own growth and hopefully do a little more growing along the way.
Source: Atelier Doré – Garance Doré