I am living with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I cope with it by focusing my energies on 3 things- Family, Freemasonry, and Muaythai. I document my journey as a husband and a father with mental health issues on my Instagram page.
Today is #bellletstalk day and I am feeling obliged to share a piece of my story. Instead writing a wall of text, I'll just summarize how I feel today by borrowing words from the following.
"Don't gain the world and lose your soul, wisdom is better than silver or gold." -Bob Marley
"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." -Rumi
"We build too many walls and not enough bridges." -Isaac Newton
"I don't want to believe. I want to know." -Carl Sagan
Mother Earth's most recent profile photo taken by NASA's Johnson Space Center. Such beauty!
First of all, I hope everyone is having a great year so far. This update is overdue and everyone is wondering about what happened to their order. Yes, we have finished the production on time and we have the handsome neckties in our possession (see photos below), however, an important thing prevents me from sending the neckties right away. Read on.
One of the neat things about having a small business is that I can make decisions on the fly and implement it on impulse without having to go through a lot of red tape. For this collection, I planned to ditch the usual generic necktie box and surprise you with a fully customized decorative and protective box at no added cost to you. The photo below is the blueprint of this box which I designed myself.
Embedded on the design itself, but hidden from plain sight, are choice immortal words from Freemasons who came before us to inspire us in our daily lives. These messages are hidden from outside view to convey that the real Work happens from within.
When I said "fully customized", that's exactly what I meant. The FraternalTies box is not "stock size"- it's dimensions are based on the dimensions of our neckties. In terms of design, as you can see on the blueprint above, I did not spare even the bottom part of the box- a black and white mosaic pattern familiar to all Freemasons to remind us of the nature of life.
I already mentioned this on my last email but in case anyone missed it, you will also receive this signed limited edition mini poster featuring words from Brother Mark Twain.
At the beginning of this letter, I talked about making impulsive business decisions. It has it's obvious positive side, but there's also a downside and that is I did not fully anticipate the time involved in producing a fully customized box. I have miscalculated and now I have to ask for your patience once more.
Would you be able to wait perhaps a couple of weeks for this box? If not I will fully understand. If you wish that I send you the tie ASAP without the customized protective and decorative box, please let me know by responding this this email and I will personally ship out your necktie right away. Please let me know your thoughts.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
John Paul Gomez
Designer | Doric Lodge No. 316 AF&AM Toronto
The content of this blog post was taken from my latest newsletter.
I read somewhere that in ancient Babylon, the days between the Winter Solstice and the New Year were seen as the time of a struggle between Chaos and Order, with Chaos trying to take over the world. With a new year comes new opportunities- a chance to better ourselves. The following are select quotes by our late Brothers that will hopefully help bring Order out of Chaos and make us a better man in the process.
This is a follow up to the "10 Famous Men You Didn't Know Were Freemasons" blog that I wrote about 5 years ago.
I present to you well-known US / Canada brands (alphabetically arranged) that were founded by a Freemason. Some on this list have local popularity and some are known on a global scale. Got something to comment or add? Please leave a comment below.
Note: Content below is an excerpt from our latest newsletter.
--Pre-order now and enjoy Free Shipping to USA / Canada--
It took us about two years to perfect the Masonic Paisley design and the resulting Jacquard woven silk fabric. It took us a while to get to its final form but it turned out to be one of our best designed, softest, densest, and shiniest necktie that we have ever produced. It makes handsome knots with beautiful drapes- with or without dimples. The choice is yours.
For a limited time only, the FraternalTies® Exclusive Masonic Paisley fabric will be available for pre-order in an all-black and all-white necktie versions.
We personally design the pattern with love right here at our home, and we also personally hand-pick the silk material that goes in our neckties. We strive to give our neck ties the perfect weave, the right density, and an interesting ombre effect that is pleasing to the eyes.
Putting those 3 characteristics in a fabric is not an easy task, but like anything in life- achievable by going through and learning from trial and error. Like its predecessors, the Black and White Masonic Paisley neckties perfectly embodies all 3 desirable traits that we want in a fabric. Check out the photos and videos below to see the fabric shift "From Darkness to Light".
The black "Darkness" Masonic Paisley goes from from a subtle textured black appearance to alternating shades of grey as the light hit it from different angles.
The white "Light" Masonic Paisley goes from from a subtle textured white appearance to metallic shades of silver and pure white as the light hits it from different angles.
Submitted by John Paul Gomez
Comment: I find that Instagram is better at filtering hashtags, Facebook- not so much. A day have passed already and I still get zero results in FB for #hiramstrinkets despite several Brothers including myself using it. If you want to see your photo in this page, let me know and I'll include it.
Submitted by instagram.com/mr_ketterman
Submitted by Bro. Daniel Di Natale
Submitted by Bro. Angelo Cares Rios
Submitted by Bro. Kenneth Lottman
Submitted by instagram.com/ethan._.meh15
Submitted by instagram.com/bro.mike
Submitted by instagram.com/nebreyob
Submitted by Bro. Kenneth Lottman Jr.
Submitted by instagram.com/nebreyob
