28/02/2025
I sit here tonight thinking about tomorrow’s economic blackout. About what it means to truly vote with our dollars. About the little shops I love and the shopkeepers I love even more. I think about the cold, sterile disconnect we’ve grown numb to when we click ‘buy now’ on this very phone you’re holding. It arrives at our door, faceless and nameless. If we like it, we keep it. If not, we send it back. We don’t have to talk to anyone—sometimes, we literally can’t talk to anyone. And we’ve grown accustomed to that. I’m guilty of it, too. Even as a small business owner who champions other small businesses, I fall into the trap of convenience, the shiny allure of capitalism.
But over the last two months, Kelsey and I have chosen to slow down our spending—partially as an act of resistance, partially out of necessity as we pour our hearts (and dollars) into . It’s harder. It takes more time, more thought, and sometimes sacrifices of what I can buy right now. But supporting local feels better than blindly trading money for things. It feels human.
I think about the quote I shared above from ‘Shopkeeping’ by Peter Miller. I bought this book while dreaming of opening Wildcraft General, a place meant to feel like home, a safe space, a reminder that shopping can be about connection, not just consumption.
Tomorrow’s boycott matters. It’s a small stand against corporations that prioritize profit over people, that bankroll those whose values don’t align with our own. But let’s let it be more than a day. Let it be a shift in how we live, how we spend, how we see our communities.
Amazon is easy. But shopping small? It puts money back into your neighborhood, it makes your city cooler, it builds connection. It’s an act of rebellion, an act of love. Tomorrow, and every day after, support the shops that make your city what it is. Because a good shop is the heartbeat of a place. And our world needs more heart.
Big love to you all,
Tyler