When I made the phone call on January 6th, 2017 for one lawn sign and quickly decided to order 200 to save myself money because one sign was so expensive to have made, challenging myself to find homes for the other 199 signs, I NEVER, EVER could have imagine that I would still be selling lawn signs 3 years later.  Given that I was a self-employed photographer, mother of two boys with ZERO merchandising experience, I don't think anyone could have predicted the formation of the Believe Love Unite movement.  With the unknown challenges that I was to face combined with my lack of experience, I think even today I would question why I am continuing to push forward to find ways to grow the reach and sales of this campaign, if I wasn't the one having had the lived experiences the last three years has provided me.  

I never could have predicted connecting with so many incredible humans and reconnecting with many from my past who lifted my spirits, spr...

Most people don't know why or how I started the Believe LOVE Unite campaign or where the lawn signs around their neighborhood came from. 

This video was recently captured, thanks to Sam Graydon spending a day with me to learn more about how the campaign started and what keeps me motivated to keep on keeping on keeping on.  I hope you will watch, share and consider how you can help spread this message of love further in your community and across this country in 2020.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:)

It has been almost exactly one year since my last blog post.  It is not because I stopped working to spread the Believe LOVE Unite (BLU) message or became any less passionate about trying to be a part of the change I hope to see in the world.  I have continued to sell online and in person, but needed to take time to get a little quiet and figure out if and how I could further the reach of this organic campaign beyond just one person working unpaid & alone in Seattle buoyed by support, positive words, and my own dreams.  I needed to figure out if I had the courage, energy, commitment, knowledge and support to propel this work instead of letting it slowly slip away to a being a "nice effort" project.  I am very excited to say, thanks to many enthusiastic individuals, I am kicking off today another BLU Wave that I hope turns into a giant BLU Tsunami of love, learning, conversations, kindness, unity, and connections.  

I want to st...

Thanksgiving is here.  Across our country, family and friends will come together around food, fellowship and gratitude.  We take an entire day off from work and school to be with each other and give thanks.  We are given time to take care of ourselves and those in our community.  We take time to reflect and uplift each other.  Connection, laughter, love, respite and rejuvenation take place.  In my dream world, we would do a little bit of this EACH AND EVERY DAY for ourselves, for our communities and for our country.  In my dream world, we would realized we are all more the same than we are different.  Lift our heads to see and connect with each other through understanding and love...not keep our heads down out of fear of ourselves for making a mistake, of the other because we have been conditioned to believe people not like ourselves are bad...of the unknown. 

I BELIEVE IT IS POSSIBLE THROUGH SPREADING LOVE....

My silence in BLU communication is not reflective of the work happening with the Believe LOVE Unite movement.  To the contrary, daily, there is always so much I want to share but time is limited and fleeting in the summer...hence I have resorted to a video.  In this time of unrest, please know being a part of the BLU is making a difference.  I donation made to the Wisconsin Alliance for Women's Health this week brings the total funds donated since January 2017 to $59,320.  I am confident we can push that number higher.  I ask that you take a few minutes out of your day and view this video and share.

WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER AND TOGETHER WE WILL RISE.

#believeLOVEunite

One year ago today, 5 months into the Spread Love campaign, I didn't know what was possible.  My head was telling me to shut down because of the hate and divisiveness swirling in the media and daily conversations leaving me feeling a bit hopeless.  But my heart was yelling louder to keep pushing on with the dreams dancing in my head.  Dreams of what could be possible if people could rise up and connect around one unifying message.  Dreams that were being realized through connections made in my local community and across the country.  Instead of shutting down, I unfurled a banner I had purchased with dreams to have it fly atop the Space Needle...I settled with letting it fly on my house and continue to hold onto the dream of bigger venues.

All the feelings I had a year ago remain but have grown stronger.  I am more concerned about what is happening every day in our country but I am also more passionate about finding ways to grow...

Every day I read or hear something disheartening, unsettling or completely absurd. And every day I hear from at least one person who has become more  or feels hopeless that they can do anything to make a difference because it seems impossible to figure out where to start. Does this sound familiar to you?  Am I describing your life too?  Are you feeling more shut down or fearful?  This is where our paths may diverge because of one simple action.  Sharing the Believe Love Unite message with a sign.

TODAY I ASK YOU TO BUY A SIGN.  IF YOU HAVE ONE, BUY ANOTHER TO GIVE AWAY.  

Then forward onto one (OR MORE) friend and ask them to do the same.

IT IS THAT SIMPLE.  TRULY.  

Just imagine what your one purchase and your one ask can do...

To my core, I KNOW we can make a difference if we can start to see we are all connected.  We can create safe communities and begin to grow our collective power that will form barrie...

We are celebrating Earth Day 2018 all week.🔬🌺🌏 

10% off Believe LOVE Unite Tote all proceeds will be donated to Zero Hour (today through Sunday).  Get totes for your family and give a few gifts to friends to remind them to celebrate and take action to protect the beautiful world we are lucky to live in. 

Head to www.believeLOVEunite.com and use PROMO CODE “EARTH” at checkout.

**Zero Hour is a youth-led movement creating entry points, training, and resources for new young activists and organizers (and adults who support our vision) wanting to take concrete action around climate change. 

In January of 2017, I unintentionally founded the grassroots Spread Love campaign that has challenged me, inspired me, opened me, knocked me down and then lifted me back up.  It has provided me with infinite learning and a deeply fueled passion to push past my fears, listen to my heart & find creative ways and new connections to help me move towards the visions I see in my head about the great potential this movement has yet to reach.  Because I lack a strong filter or the time that requires me to be clearly articulate or edited, I have shared my self-doubt openly in my video updates.  Sharing my discomfort and lack of certainty always leaves me with a tinge of disgust in myself...after the sharing, a voice in my head would say, "no one wants to hear your sob story struggles & they do not need to see any more tears."  Today, I am excited to share an interview I had last week that helped me realized the importance of being open to struggles and sharing...

A Facebook post popped up today from 1 yr ago. Memories of Nancy’s unsolicited, unbelievable support still flood me with gratitude. For her, she may think she could’ve done more but for me she show d up BIG just when I needed it most. Support continues to show up just when I find my mind or heart flailing...regardless of the duration or amount of support we can give in our daily lives, we need to remember anything form of support will have impact that cannot be measured but is always felt.
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

FACEBOOK post from 3/21/17
Nancy Chapin came to my very 1st Pop Up at Volunteer Park. The night before the Women's March on Washington: Seattle, she dropped by my house at 11pm to get a few hoodies. It was a night I will never forget. My 1st shipment of hoodies had arrived and my house was FILLED w/ boxes, signs, shirts and hoodies. EVERYWHERE. My husband was at work & all I could think of was how crazy he was going to think I was when he walked in...

It is hard to believe we are coming to the end of Q1!  So much has happened, not enough has happened...question, doubt, anger, frustration, sadness, disbelief, hope, excitement, instigation, conversation, unity, inspiration and still the yearning for real change, stability, peace and love remain for all citizens of our world. 

Continuing to work hard to promote the Spread Love campaign and recently applied for an LLC to separate the Spread Love work from Tara Clark Photography.  I am SUPER excited to share that the campaign and other work will live under Believe Love Unite (www.believeloveunite.com is the main url but spreadlove2017.com still works too).

As I find time is limited and sharing real time information can be difficult, end up doing Live Facebook posts to communicate news, so I will pass it on here.  I hope you can take time out of your day to listen and if you have questions, ideas, or you just want to get involved with this work PLEASE...

Last week, I shared Part I of what pointed me to make KUOW the first beneficiary of my lawn sign proceeds.  Looking back on that day and the ones that followed, I am reminded of how important it is for me to to slow down, lift my head to look and listen to what is happening right in front of me and engage when my heart moves me.  Too often, my days are spent moving quickly through my work, my errands, the responsibilities that come with being an adult and the day ends with exhaustion and questioning if I did enough.  Since that morning in the cemetery and the one that followed, I have realized my life is much better when I stop to see the world around me and connect with smiles, words, actions and intention.  This is what has fueled my passion with the Spread Love campaign.  With each day, each new experience, each conversation, each connection my fuel tank expands and leaves me with feelings that I may combust if I cannot find ways to express the imp...

I was hoping to post "Discovering Love Part II" today but need to postpone, ironically because I was listening to KUOW on my way home from dropping off my son at school.  I found myself in tears listening to a conversation with a senator talking about how nothing will change following another school massacre in Broward County.  Of course solutions are complicated but I as I pulled up to my home I kept thinking LOVE AND CONNECTION are not complication and can lead to the change we MUST see in this world.

This is what was running through my mind...

If you are feeling powerless.  Start by spreading more love every day.  Not just w/ your family.  Not just in your inner circle of friends.  Not just in your school community.  Spread it with the people where you buy groceries.  Spread it when you are in a neighborhood other than your own.  Spread it with a smile.  A kind comment.  A honest thought.  It does not have to be big grand gestures.  It is f...

This week, thanks to Facebook's "On This Day" memories popping into my feed, I saw images, a video and re-read words I shared that ultimately led to choosing KUOW as the 1st beneficiary of my lawn sign endeavor.  The journey, one article I heard on KUOW sent me on, continues to resonate deeply within me.  I am a firm believer things happen for a reason & we have to pay attention to the signs or people that rise up to move us forward on the journey of life.  Today, on Valentine's Day, I believe it is the perfect day to re-share the story here.  The image above may be one of my most favorite images I have ever taken.  I did not wait for the perfect light, this is how the headstone met me.  I am sure I could never recreate the same image...it was meant to be and I believe was my gateway to a journey to share and spread love.  I could never have predicted, a year later, I would be in the love "business" that includes translation in Mandarin!!...