My friend Sara Close is on a mission to fly and document her journey along the way. She started down this road on a temporary 4wk whim, but her newfound passion has now taken her from Florida to Montana to Mexico over the last 6 months in a bold effort to live her dream and soak up all the sport of hang gliding has to offer. 

She recently started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to finish post-production on the film and any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Big props to Sara for going for it + cheers to being the giants in our dreams!

Right now I am in the process of training for my second year running the World Vision Half Marathon. As I push myself to prepare for the 13.1 mile stretch through Queens' Flushing Park at the end of March, I gain more and more appreciation for the people who run the full 26.2 marathon. The half seems manageable to me (even though the motivation to get myself running on these cold winter mornings has been a little slow coming this time around). However, the full thing? Just don't think its going to happen for me.

That is why I am so incredibly impressed with Robert Reffkin. As you can see in the video, Robert has set the goal to run 50 marathons in 50 states in order to raise a million dollars to empower young people with the resources and tools to realize their dreams. In a sincere and inspiring effort to pay it forward, Robert writes:

My motivation for this stems from the fact that throughout my life I have received help and guidance from my loving mother, inspiring mentors, and outstanding organizations. I am deeply grateful for the assistance that I received and have combined my desire for personal achievement with a commitment to giving others the opportunities that were given to me.

He has already completed marathons in 48 states (that's 1257.6 miles!) and has raised over $750,000! To learn more about Robert, his organization New York Needs You, and how you can donate to his amazing mission, visit Running to Support Young Dreams.

Hopefully one day I will get myself up to Robert's level. Till then, 13.1 it is. :)

"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!' 

Brilliant + poetic + awe-inspiring. 

Go where you want. Eat what you crave. Learn what you always wanted. 

Live your dream.  

Rick Mereki and friends- this is unreal. Thank you. Keep creating.  

And a special thanks to @skinnyvinny and Bonnie Calvin for sharing the link with the Holstee team. 

Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. 

Happy Friday :D 

Meet Augustina Woodgate, a super talented Argentinean born mixed medium artist and lead Poetry Bomber based out of Miami. I found her on my friend Bassam's Twitter feed and I'm amazed and highly inspired by her covert operations to introduce poetry more often into stranger's lives. I mean what a pleasant surprise it would be to pick out a sweet pair of vintage pants or a vintage shirt only to find a cherry on top with Augustina's graceful poetry tags. 

Though a small operation, this is one of those ideas and moments of expression where it's so overwhelmingly positive and touching and effective that you feel better just learning about it and knowing Augustina is out there making it happen.

One of my favorite poems she shares is:

Life is a huge dream why work so hard? -Li Po  

Augustina- if you happen to read this, thank you. Thank you for your creativity and sense of wonder and desire to connect and share with others thru your own personal means. I find your story and artistry an inspiration to continue living the life I want.

We'd love to get bombed here in New York. :D 

My favorite part about social media is the process of discovering other people out there who think and act just like you do because when you decide to take the path less traveled with your life, at times, you feel all alone. Like totally alone. And that can be a real bummer. 

Meet Caroline Mikolajczyk and her newborn blog My Train B. 

After being raised and schooled in France, washing toilets in Australia, and working as a marketing executive in London, she's decided to return home to start a shoe company with her Mum. 

Why/how do I know all this you ask? Her blog. It's short and sweet as she just started in April, but the post below is still rattling my heart and soul and I felt it was most appropriate to share considering the Manifesto we try to live by everyday. 

Caroline- Thanks for the inspiration and heartfelt stories. It's nice to know we're not alone as we venture off the beaten path towards a life of our own footprints. Please keep creating, and cheers to living your dream. 

And PS- I'm guessing that's not Caroline above. :D 

:: :: :: :: :: 

Say “Au Revoir” to Your Gold Prison

As you have already guessed with the title, I’m leaving (I hope forever) the corporate world and it feels damn good! Today was my last day as Marketing Executive for a translation company to the North of London. After 1 year and half, I’m finally leaving my desk, the 9 to 5 pattern, the rules and the feeling of being trapped.

It was a long journey to arrive to this point because there is always a ton of facts and reasons why you should stay at your job and some people are here to remember you. Fortunately, I don’t really have this kind of people in my life, I actually feel blessed to have such an amazing support from my family and friends. But in the case you do, you need to keep fighting and do what you think it’s best for you because at the end of the day, as Colin Wright says, you won’t be able to get your time back.

You know what? He is so right that I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before… We all live for a hypothetical future that might never happen. We work at jobs that we don’t really enjoy in the hope of getting another better one someday. We try to save money in the hope of traveling again someday. We don’t exercise and eat healthy because we will do it someday (I struggle with this one myself!). So of course, there is nothing wrong with that but what if “someday” never comes?

Instead of planning things on a long term basis, try to do them right now because you never know what might happen to you in the meantime. Can you say that at this time in your life you could die happy? That you are living the life you’ve always wished for? Right now?

If yes, then I’m truly happy for you, you are living your dream. If no, then you should think about what you’re missing in your life and how you can change that. Remember, possibilities are endless and your decisions shouldn’t be dictated by what everybody is doing or by what you feel it’s the “right” thing to do. Become the person you’ve always wanted to be today rather than someday.

What is holding you back in your gold prison?

Need I say more? 

I hope this girl never loses her pure sense of exploration, truthfulness and academia. 

An idea just struck me... a while back, I wrote about our wasteful use of many backyards, wishing there was incentive for people to build and sustain local gardens and sources of produce. Adding to that pipe dream, I never learned about gardening or creating local produce or organic food when I was in school. Could you imagine how our sense of health and wellness as a nation would change if we introduced sustainable farming and gardening techniques to our children when they hit middle school? And I don't mean just a quick crash course on what a greenhouse is or how to plant a flower. I'm talking a full blown semester or year of in depth analysis and instruction on how to start and maintain a local soure of produce.

The kids could start a local farmers group within their school and talk about food, ecology and nutrition, and they could put what they learn to practice by maintaining a mini-farm/garden at or around school. By the time they reach high school, they'll have a solid base of experience and information which will in turn enable them to make more well-informed choices regarding their future diet and health and hopefully allow them to keep the cost of their healthcare low. 

Might be a pipe dream, but I had to get that out there. Would love to hear people's thoughts here or on Facebook. 

Funny enough, I also don't remember learning how to manage money in elementary school, or even high school for that matter, and I suppose it's not a coincidence where we are as a nation today in that regard either. 

Which potato would you rather eat? :D 

<p>Girl Walk // All Day from jacob krupnick on Vimeo.</p>

Ever wonder what the experience of listening to and watching an album-length music video would be like? 

Well Jacob Krupnick and Anne Marsen are leading the way in doing so by collaborating with Girl Talk on his latest album, All Day.

They've been filming in New York City since the spring and will be holding screenings you won't forget throughout the summer. 

The video above was leaked as they set out to test their guerilla shooting skills on the Staten Island ferry this past winter. 

So stoked to see how things turn out and loving their "do it yourself" approach and straightforward passion to collaborate and create and share and express their artistry. Props to the entire team involved. 

Here's a great article from the NY Times on the story of how Anne and Jacob met. 

Cheers to living your dream and sharing your passion. :D 

Holstee exists because Dave, Mike and Fabian's parents allowed and encouraged them to dream. It's that simple. When a child is taught that the glass is "half-full" vs. "half-empty", that child's perspective on the world and life at large is significantly affected in a positive light, moving forward, pushing forward, always on the upside. 

For me personally, I cannot thank my parents enough for giving me the world on an oyster dish and backing every path I've chosen to explore. I've failed at times, but that's part of the process of further self-discovery, personal growth and true confidence. And I'm forever grateful for having been blessed with such freedom and encouragement by my parents. 

We are now at a point in our lives when friends are starting families and it's simultaneously exciting and daunting to imagine what it's like to be completely responsible for a child's experience of the world. At the same time, it's a beautiful and magical responsibility and something I look forward to someday and I have to tip my hat to my friends Chris+Amber and Dave+KT (another Dave, not Holstee Dave :) for taking on the toughest job in the world even tho I know they couldn't be any more well suited for parenthood. Love you guys. And so happy to see you too believe dreams can come true. 

Cheers to Jackson Duke (above) and Jake Nolan (below), two of the bravest babies I know.  :D 

If you have a pic of your baby wearing the bib as well, or know a friend who does, please don't be shy and drop me a note- mikey@holstee.com :)