Collections

During chemo I drew little reminders to get through the day. A smiling sun. Smiling eyes. The word “happy” in my own hand-lettering. Doing my best today.

I painted in my sketchbook, then took the art and embroidered the first “happy” in orange onto an oversized tie-dye tee and wore it to chemo. The goal was to create something that made me smile in the morning when I looked in the mirror. It became a ritual. It became armor. I made a few more comfy pieces to take during those hard days in the hospital. Later, when I came back to social media and wrote about the cancer, hundreds of people answered with their own stories. They found me at queer events, at the gym, even at work, and asked where they could get the shirt.

So I made it a collection for everyone. A “happy” tee, a “happy” sweater with smiling eyes on the back, and a “doing my best today” sweatshirt with a smiling sun.

The launch brought digital downloads, merch sales, and hundreds of comments and heartwarming conversations. I spent three days straight answering every comment from launch day, many of them from people living with cancer right now.