Naming Lettie + Row

The dream of Lettie and Row has been around for a long time, but the name took me forever to figure out. 

So how did I land on Lettie and Row?

Lettie is a spin off of Lehti, the Finnish word for "leaf".

My husband, Matt, and I had the opportunity to go to Finland last year (a layover on our way home from India--it was all around a wild trip) and those few days in Finland had a massive impact on me.

It may have been the quiet (I felt like we saw more reindeer than people while we were there!) or the fact that our three small kiddos weren't with us that allowed me to really think.

Nature has always been my biggest source of inspiration in what I create. It's also where I feel the most myself and that short trip helped me see that my mental health was really struggling and overall I was not doing well.

When we came back home I started counseling and over a year later I'm still seeing my counselor and truly doing so much better.

When I think about the turning point in my life where I realized I needed help I think about Finland. Something about that cold air and beautiful nature was not only an inspiration for me creatively, but also for my mental health which impacts everything--my family, my work, my life.

I knew a piece of Finland had to be in the name. One day, months after Finland, I was walking through Central Park and looking at all the leaves for some new jewelry inspiration. In awe of the different designs, shapes, and textures of the leaves I immediately looked up "leaf" in Finnish.

Lehti.

I changed it to "Lettie" out of preference and a little bit to keep the special-ness of Finland more personal.

Row is short for Sparrow.

I wanted another piece to the name after I figured out Lettie, but all the ideas I came up with were not great. 

Sitting on a bench journaling in Morningside Park one afternoon, I looked up to see six or eight sparrows by my feet pecking at the ground.

Deciding to start this small business was an overwhelming decision for me. I weighed the costs in my mind often and always ended up putting the idea back on the shelf and saying, "Maybe next year."

It just felt too risky, ya know? Too scary. If I just never do it, then I wont fail, right? If I don't do it, then there's no financial risk. If I don't do it then ______. I had a million reasons why it was better to just not do it.

Those little sparrows made me think of the Bible verse from Matthew, 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:26

My faith is the most important thing to me and as I sat with that verse I was flooded with time after time where the Lord had provided for me and my family. Most of those times may not have looked like what I would have expected "provision" to look like, but those memories helped me to take a step of faith forward.

To fill in the blank with, "If I never do it then I'll never know."

I was so scared with how this would impact my family--mostly time-wise and financially, but sitting on that bench meditating on that verse I was reminded that I believe God is the one that truly provides for me and my family. 

I still wrestle with fear and trust, but that's for another blog post ;)

I shortened Sparrow to Row, again for preference and also to keep that special moment a little personal.

Taking the risk to start my small business has been so scary! I'm thankful I took the time to truly name this dream of mine because the meaning behind Lettie + Row reminds me often to take a deep breath, look around and be inspired by the small things in life, and to trust God with all things.

Thanks for reading about these special and impactful moments that led to naming Lettie + Row. I'm truly so grateful you're here and making this dream of mine possible!

-Sabrina