Happy Labor Day, all!

I'm going to get real-real here with you, because transparency is energy currency and being real is [really] what life is all about, is it not?

Trigger warning: talk about death and suicide. Also, it's not a sale.

My recent weeks have been punctuated with loss, and that loss is driving me to remember what is most important in life. I lost an old friend, an angel of a human, who was my age and had a 3-year-old daughter. She perished suddenly on the dance floor, taking pieces of our hearts with her and leaving pieces of her heart with us.

And then just 12 days later, my grandfather died. It was sudden and unexpected. I truly thought he had several more good years to enjoy, and am so grateful that I got to see him a few times this year.

And then three days after that, a friend's father, whom we knew well, chose to end his life.

Life is short, my friends. We think we know that we'll have tomorrow, and yet...we don't know that, and so we must live our lives with the passion and love that our hearts feel most aligned with—in every moment, in THIS moment—and not wait for some "I'll do it when XYZ condition has changed."

This is the place I'm writing to you from. Raw from grief. Shocked from loss. Remembering to love fiercely, because this all ends.

I share this on Labor Day of all days because it's a day initially intended to be a reprieve from the cycles of productivity and Time-as-commodity...and yet it's de facto become yet another consumer holiday co-opted by The Gods of Marketing: a seductive whisper of an economic engine that needs to grow at all costs.

I want to pause here for an aside about access—I know there are many who relish Labor Day sales because it allows access to products they might not be able to afford otherwise. I am not calling you or them out in any way for taking advantage of that. I'm calling out a system that makes equitable access difficult.

*So if you're reading this and Labor Day is allowing you to access necessities or luxuries that feel out of reach other days—I celebrate you. Please, enjoy the crap out of it. And hopefully you got to enjoy some of our other sales that come around time to time!

And, if you're reading this and you don't need the sales, may this be a little inbox reminder to get off the screen, and get connected to, nourished by, and infused with what matters most to you.

I believe the true spirit of Labor Day is to unplug from The System™ and to touch in with what really matters in life. It's a day to, as my tea teacher Wu De says, "Remember to remember."

So often in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we forget what matters most to us.

Our to-do lists seem to matter most.

Pseudo-values that we've superimposed from a culture that doesn't give a damn about our wellbeing...seem to matter most.

But at the heart of our human experience is an essential nature that is here to express uniquely through you, in a way that has never before been, and will never be seen again.

I can't tell you what matters most to you, and if you're looking for ideas, I know that the fundamental needs of our human-animal body instinctually crave connection and belonging—with self, other, nature, and _______ (insert your favorite word for God/Allah/Śiva/Creator/Spirit/The Beyond/The Nature of Everything here).

Whether you're a longtime Rasa subscriber or have never even tried the stuff (it's good by the way 😉 ), we want you to be in touch with what matters most. We advocate for you stepping out of the constraints of modern culture, even just for this day, and being fully, freely yourself: remembering, connecting with, and celebrating what matters most to you.

(#funfact, Be Yourself is one of our core company values.)

So go ahead: close this letter and make your very first action one step in that direction. Open a journal. Turn on a song you love to dance to. Reach out to a friend for a walk or a meal. Play with your kids and get on their level.

Life is short, and not only do you deserve it, but the world deserves your best, too.

And if you bring a cup of Rasa along with you, we're so happy for that, too. Nothing gives us more joy than fueling and nourishing your connection with what matters most.

💛,

Lopa