The Pace of Guatemala in a Busy Season
There is a pace to life in Guatemala that stays with you long after you leave. It is not slow exactly, the markets are busy, the roads are full, and the weavers we partner with are among the hardest working people I have ever met. But there is an intentionality to the way things are done there that is deeply grounding. Coming home from a sourcing trip and stepping back into the rush of everyday life, I find myself holding onto that feeling as long as I can.
Craft Does Not Rush
Before a single thread of the Mezclado Throw is woven, two colors of cotton are carefully twisted together by hand to create a marled yarn that gives the finished textile its rich, nuanced texture. That preparatory step alone requires expert skill and unhurried attention. There is no way to accelerate that without losing what makes it extraordinary.
I think about that often when life starts to speed up. The deliberate pace of making something well is one of the most grounding reminders that not everything needs to move at the speed of a crowded calendar. As designers, you understand better than most that the best rooms are never rushed. Neither are the pieces that belong in them.
A Guatemalan Mood
When I am in Guatemala, all of my senses are awake. I am constantly trying to take everything in, the colors of the markets, the sound of the looms, the feeling of a freshly woven textile between my fingers. But it is the smells that ground me almost immediately. The woodsmoke drifting through a highland village. The earthy sweetness of cacao. The warm, yeasty fragrance of pan dulce fresh from a local bakery.
There is something about the ritual of sweet bread and a warm drink that really grounds you in Guatemala. Every evening, families gather to share pan dulce alongside a hot coffee. It is not a grand occasion. It is simply the end of the day, marked with presence and sweetness and the company of the people you love. Witnessing that ritual, even as a visitor, is a reminder to slow things down and be present.
Bringing This Energy Home
I wanted to carry that feeling back with me. And in many ways, the pieces I have collected in Guatemala help me do exactly that. Every time I look at one of them, a textile draped across a chair, a pillow on a sofa, I am reminded to take a breath and appreciate what I am holding. These are not just beautiful objects. They are the result of someone's full attention, their skill, their time, and their cultural inheritance. That is worth pausing for.
I also continue my education of Guatemala even when I am not there. The Popol Vuh, the great creation narrative of the K'iche' Maya, is one of the most important literary and spiritual texts in Mesoamerican history. It tells the story of the gods, the creation of humanity from maize, and the cycles of life that govern the natural world. Ancient, alive, and endlessly worth returning to. Reading it at home, with a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of pan dulce nearby, is the closest I can get to being back in the highlands until my next trip.
Our Mezclado Throw is draped as the anchor of this month's scene. Our Pine Needle Plate Charger holds a cup of Guatemalan hot chocolate and a basket of pan dulce, sweet bread fragrant with anise and sugar, with one of our Rayas Tea Towel is tucked inside the basket beneath. The Popol Vuh and a handful of postcards from Guatemala complete the scene and are small reminders that the places and people behind our work are never far from mind. A mood board that asks you, gently, to slow down and stay a while.
