Reflection

Every few months I reflect on what Made In USA means to me. I find its meaning to me is different every time but no less important. Right now, based on my lack of time, finances and a car in Miami, my personal meaning of MIUSA is based on lack and failure to uphold my original intent with this blog. Rather than suffer about that, I simply recognize where I stand with my resources, skills and my emotional and mental strength and resolve to improve, obtain my missing resources and reach my goals and original intent of this blog.

With that in mind, in addition to what has already been expressed on these pages, what do you all believe is needed to further the cause of MIUSA? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Hurricane

Sometimes, it is impossible to complete your goals and objectives despite your best intentions. Events beyond your control can hinder or stop progress on the things that matter most to you. In those instances, you can choose to suffer or simply accept that you cannot control everything around you. For example, I had a goal today which required me to speak to business contacts in the northeast. Since the entire northeast is bracing for Hurricane Sandy, most of these business contacts were not at work today. This was a circumstance beyond my control. I joyfully accepted that and worked on other projects which I had complete control over.

The MIUSA movement is not something I have any control of. I can’t lobby for funds for the movement, I can’t require stores to carry only MIUSA clothing or impose consequences on stores that sell foreign made clothes. What I can do is continue to engage others in the movement and sustain my own passion and interest in the movement. These actions and my enthusiasm are fully in my control. No one or nothing else can hinder these. Even the mightiest hurricane does not stand a chance against the force of my commitment.

The Crazies

Bill Gates once said his goal was for every home in the country to possess a computer running Windows. Other successful visionaries had similarly lofty goals. Before any goal can be accomplished, it has to be created in one’s minds. The best goals are those that excite you so much that you can taste them, feel them and believe in them. These goals require vision.

My own vision with respect to MIUSA clothing is that in the very near future, every department store or designer clothing store carries only clothes bearing the Made In USA label. I don’t know how far away that goal is or if it will ever happen. All I can do is to committ to the vision as Bill Gates did and work as hard as I can to get as close as possible to acheiving my vision. Perhaps like my greatest heroes Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Homer Hickham, Thomas Edison and many other visionaries, maybe I’m just plain crazy. Here’s hoping I am:)

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

– the immortal Steve Jobs

Taking Action

Taking action is a key to reaching your goals. I find that no matter how many goals I have written down or how many fears I have overcome, I still need to take action in order to achieve the results I want or at least get close to achieving the desired results. To that end, I will start to email as many fashion companies as possible that don’t make their clothes in the USA. I’ll start with my MIUSA Hall of Shame list of companies. My intent will be to let these companies know at least one potential consumer will not be purchasing their foreign made clothes. Imagine if many more people similarly expressed their sentiments, how quickly will things change? Its time to take action. I will post my first letter up here sometime this week. How wonderful it would be if many others followed suit!

Heroes

Hello everyone,

I am back from another wonderful vacation. My internet is not working on my laptop, it is working on all other laptops in my household but not mine. Once again, technical difficulties beyond my control have made it difficult to uphold my committment to blogging regularly. I am using a friend’s computer right now. It is during these challenging moments that I deeply feel my committments and welcome their unexpected and inconvenient problems and challenges. They are an inevitable part of having goals, hopes and dreams.

Many of my greatest heroes such as His Holiness The Dalai Lama have faced far greater set backs than the simple technical issue I am currently experiencing. http://www.dalailama-albany.com/sponsor.php.

I look forward to resolving my internet struggles tomorrow.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. -Margaret Mead

The MIUSA Phoenix

This week, I have been traveling with a friend through several states on my way to New York City.  Along the way, I encountered past relics of the dominance of Made In USA clothing and products.  In Asheville, NC, I saw what was left of Beacom, a company that produced MIUSA blankets.  The company’s headquarters burned to the ground in the months after it closed sometime in the 1990’s.  In Georgia, we passed by cotton fields full of lush cotton which unfortunately will likely be headed to foreign lands soon.  If all this wonderful cotton was used for clothing here, it will be a boon to clothing produced in the USA. However, I do not believe this cotton will be used for MIUSA clothing.

 

Similar to the legendary bird the Phoenix, which rose from its ashes, I believe that with a strong sense of duty and commitment, MIUSA clothing will see another heyday soon despite the large number of shuttered down MIUSA companies.  I believe this because as MIUSA gains more popularity, more people will begin to appreciate MIUSA clothing.  I also believe this as I am aware that it is in the darkest moments that the greatest goals, hopes and dreams come true.  For example, a dear friend of mine was recently laid off and found herself working as an assistant for a friend. She had no job or savings and desperately needed money.  Her dream was to publish a cookbook for children.  With no money or contacts in the publishing or cookbooks world, her dream seemed nearly impossible.

 

In the weeks after beginning her new job, my friend committed to a 3 month goal of somehow finding a way to publish her cookbook.  As luck would have it, her friend who hired her as an assistant was a professional food stylist.  Her friend was soon asked to style the food for an upcoming dessert cookbook for children that a well known chocolate and baking company was publishing. Eventually, my friend told her boss about her 3 month goal. Her boss was soon asked by the baking company if she knew of someone who could complete 75 recipes in 1 month for their cookbook.  Recalling her assistant/friend’s goal, she promptly recruited her for the project although my friend had no writing experience and had never worked professionally as a cook before save for some community cooking classes for children that she conducted in her neighborhood.  My friend jumped at the chance and completed the 75 recipes in just under a month.  The resulting book was a huge success and sold over 50,000 copies in her hometown.  Armed with the confidence of the project’s success, my friend finally started writing her own cook book for children.  Since she is already a successful published author with the publication of the baking company’s book which she co-authored, she received an advance of $10,000 for her first cook book. She is currently working on the book and will have it in stores by year’s end.  Despite her dire situation, she kept being hopeful and optimistic, worked very hard and made her dream come true.

 

How wonderful it would be if all the shuttered MIUSA clothing factories and the overall dark moment for MIUSA clothes transform them into a similar success story as that of my friend? I believe it is possible but what would it take to make that commitment? I hope that with our collective efforts, we are able to find the answer very soon.