Mindfully Made

Visual art has been practiced by nearly all human cultures and is one of the defining human characteristics. Our earliest ancestors adorned themselves and their spaces beyond what was practical, collecting and creating decorative objects to communicate with others and express themselves.

Nowadays, as decorative objects can be procured immediately at the click of a button, we’re faced with a modern dilemma: as we are becoming more aware of dwindling global resources — we are simultaneously tempted with access to an unlimited number of products. How do we maintain our love and appreciation of beautiful things, while living a mindful, environmentally responsible life? How can we relate consciously to material goods, and the global supply chain that produces them?

In 2015, two meditation and mindfulness practitioners, Rebecca and Summer, launched their brand Territory to explore these questions. With backgrounds in peace building and development work in Latin America, and experience advocating for social justice in Africa, they sought to examine the effects of consumption, and to explore a different kind of consumer culture: one based on purpose and intention. What could mindful purchasing look like, and how could it have a positive effect on our environment, society, and personal lives?

Territory takes a three-parted approach to intentional product development.

First, through design. Their pieces are created to uplift the everyday experience. Through organic, nature-based materials, each Territory good — including the table runner in the Winter Box — is intended to bring a grounded yet energetic presence into our homes and lives. For the table runner, color was the central point of inspiration. “We love the grounding power of blue,” shares Rebecca. “Fall and winter are times when we all start to naturally ground down into the earth, so we wanted to play into that feeling as we developed the runner. Calm, grounded, collected.”

Second, through connection. Territory is powered by people and built upon connections with small groups of craftspeople around the world. Their process is guided by the principles of a caring economy, as well as sustainability and cultural preservation. Summer reflects, “So many of us from the ‘developed’ world, working in the ‘developing’ world, have the assumption that we know better or can teach these communities how to do things. This could not be further from the truth. There is so much we can learn from other communities around the globe. I think back to the trips I’ve taken to our natural dye partners workshop in Central Mexico. They have an incredibly humble relationship with the earth which, in turn, humbles us. It takes incredible intelligence to learn how to create in harmony with the natural world as opposed to simply extracting from it.”

And third, through mindfulness. Their inquisitive process of personal and social evolution merges Buddhist concepts, yogic principles, social theory, and personal transformation into design and artisanal production. The duo shares, “Through this brand exploration we are asking ourselves and others to examine the effects of our consumption, not only in terms of environmental and social sustainability, but also how more mindful purchasing can have a positive effect on our personal lives as well.”

Originally, the name Territory was given to pay homage to the beauty of the wild, unexplored places of the world, but as the brand has evolved, the name has also become suggestive of the inner territory we explore when we practice mindfulness. As the brand continues to grow, Rebecca and Summer will continue to develop beautiful, new products for the home, but they’re not stopping there. Territory is also developing more personal, mindfulness-based products — all in an effort to bring our spiritual and material lives closer together.