The Adrift Again Story

Thank you for visiting us at Adrift Again.

Life is full of storms. At Adrift Again we strive to create apparel and other everyday items for that most universal human experience: being adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

The initial inspiration for Adrift Again stemmed from my own experience of being untethered in a sea of uncertainty as I watched my relatively young husband, and high school sweetheart, start to slip away from me as he struggled with memory loss due to undiagnosed brain trauma.  I was adrift.

This disruption to our lives, to our dreams and our ideas of self, was compounded by another catastrophic event that left me, and my family, once again unmoored. In 2018 we lost our home to the Paradise Camp Fire: to date, the deadliest most destructive fire in California history. To say that my family and I “barely made it out alive,” is no exaggeration. I KNEW that day that I was not going to survive. My husband and children KNEW that they would not survive. But we did. Homeless, and a little worse for wear, we were all, adrift...again.

I am a firm believer of not looking in life's review mirror. I have witnessed first-hand the turbulence of life's storms and continued to hold the deep conviction that the only way out is forward, onward, and upward – never stopping, never resting, never, never, never. That being said, these experiences shook my identity to its core. And, as I continued to reflect on them, I came to the realization that sometimes you cannot fight the storms, and survival often requires being adrift again.

Seeking an outlet after the fire, I found myself creating. Instead of worrying all night about my husband's decline, I created. Instead of worrying about life as a climate refugee, stressing over where we were going to live and how we were going to survive, I created. Refusing to remain directionless, I created – everyday, little by little, as I became more comfortable than the last with being adrift, again.

I found myself drawing inspiration from the good times. Three decades of traveling Baja California's Trans-peninsular Highway left me with a lifetime of experiences in reserve. Our Baja years now behind us, I found myself continually reaching into that reserve for inspiration, my work today invoking the creative spirits of hundreds of local artists I've met in Mexico throughout the years – artist all too familiar with being adrift again. 

Adrift Again is the continuation of all of those early creative endeavors while being folded into my current journey.  I created this brand for those who allow kindness and whimsy into their life while they face their own journey of uncertainty.  Weathering a storm with a little bit of laughter and a smile can lighten the load when you don't know what road (or sea) to travel.  It is my sincere hope that, as you confront your own storms, the items you find here at Adrift Again bring you a smile and that my story helps remind you to breathe as you become more comfortable, each and everyday, with being adrift...again.

 

Take care,

 

Doreen

Owner/Creator of Adrift Again