A season of choosing with care

It has been a rough stretch of time. Every headline feels heavier, every public statement reveals more about who is willing to stand for something and who is content to sit it out. Corporations, influencers, entire platforms are showing their hand. In one way it is painful to watch, but in another it is clarifying. We are seeing where people place their values.

That clarity matters. It allows us to navigate more honestly. To decide which spaces feel safe and which ones don’t. It also opens a chance to pause before we swipe a card or click “checkout.” Our dollars carry more weight than we are told. They build systems, they keep lights on, they decide what survives.

I wrote about this in What We Build, We Keep. It is a reminder that what we invest in, whether money or energy, has a life beyond the moment. This season I am leaning into that truth. For me that means choosing small, choosing local, choosing Black women owned businesses as my first stop when I shop. It is not about perfection. It is about priority.

And it feels especially right to talk about this now, as we move into my absolute favorite time of year. I love the holidays. The decorations, the colors, the way the air feels sharper but somehow softer at the same time. The season always carries a spirit I can’t quite explain — part hope, part generosity, part mystery. It is magic, pure and simple. A kind of collective hum that reminds me how deeply connected we all are. And for me, that magic always draws me closer to people at the margins, the ones so often overlooked or underrepresented. Something about this season slows me down, makes me notice more, listen longer, and lean into the quiet parts of connection. And in those pauses, I feel the quiet magic of remembering what it means to lean more fully into our humanness, even when it’s hard. To show up softer, braver, and closer to the best of who we are.

I want to be transparent with you here too. I am working on a new holiday collection that I will be introducing in October. It comes from the same intention. To create pieces that are thoughtful, accessible, and aligned with the values of community and care — my way of sharing not just a collection, but a vision of simple pleasures and the quiet power of an aesthetic that holds space for beauty and meaning in everyday life. I know my work and my newsletter are not for everyone. That is as it should be. My hope is that for those who find resonance here, these collections can be part of a larger choice we make together to spend and build with intention.

The holidays will bring plenty of noise and pressure. My quiet invitation is to see them as a season of choosing. Choosing clarity. Choosing what matters. Choosing who we want to keep building with.

With care,

Tasha Monroe

Founder, Simply Edyn & Co.

Writer & Editor, The Commons Dispatch