Remember when you used to listen to the obnoxious noise of the dial-up modem for over 10 minutes before you could open your “aol” account to browse the world-wide-web? I do. I’ll admit I’m getting older and less patient. Nowadays, if my browser takes two seconds to load, I’m clicking that mouse like a crazy-person. I’m not sure if it’s an East Coast thing but everything seems to be so fast-paced these days. From rushing our children to activities, sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way home from work, knowing we have a hundred things to do once we get there to “seriously, that bill is due again?”; we never seem to be able to slow down and we’re always feeling the pressure. It’s no wonder companies make millions of dollars selling us products claiming to relieve our stress. In Kenya they do things differently.
When Leah Mitula came to show me the latest creations from Kenya she opened a small bag containing a miniature, soapstone carved angel and I was immediately intrigued. It was smooth, felt almost powdery and fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. “Soapstone is said to have a calming effect. In Kenya we believe that touching soapstone is therapeutic so holding these angels can calm you down when you are nervous,” Leah explained.
Calming Angels were born out of necessity. Leah, a native Kenyan and a marine biologist based in Belgium found that the women of her village would always ask her for money when she returned home. Wanting to do more than offer a few bucks to a few women, Leah decided to harness the talent in these struggling local mothers and create a platform for them to sell their beautiful products. Leah would then market them during her world travels. These artisans not only carve soapstone angels but
What is soapstone?, you ask Geology.com describes it as, “a metamorphic rock that is composed primarily of talc, with varying amounts of chlorite, micas, amphiboles, carbonates and other minerals. Soapstone is typically gray, bluish, green or brown in color and often variegated. Its name is derived from its “soapy” feel and softness.” After touching nearly 500 calming angels as I put the recent shipment away, I noticed that my hands felt soft and almost powdery. So, where’s the magic? How does it work? Just as rosaries are used to help individuals focus in prayer and mala beads are often touched during meditation, calming angels allow us to take a moment to engage our senses and focus on something tangible
during times of stress. Angels are known to comfort us during times of grief or suffering so it makes sense that this icon was used by our artisans.
We introduced “calming angels” in June of 2015 and since then they have been “flying” off the shelves. We innately knew that this product was something special. It’s not just a keepsake or a token, it’s a meaningful object that can be given as a gift to someone grieving the loss of a loved one, a person who is about to undergo surgery, or someone going away to college. Not to repeat the theme-song from “Friends” but “When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month or even your year…” you could probably use a calming angel. When you’re nervous about an upcoming deadline at work or you are about to meet that hopefully-also-cute-in-real-life guy from Tinder, you can hold your calming angel, take a deep breath and relax. Each calming angel comes with a story-card and is encased in a velveteen pouch, perfect for gifting.
