How Four Worlds came to be

How Four Worlds Came to Be

Four Worlds has been sitting in the back of my mind for a very long time. In many ways, it began long before Beckah became what it is now.   Back when I first started making candles, and even earlier, when I was writing blogs nearly nine years ago.

When I go back and read those old posts, I can see the foundations of Four Worlds already there. The love of nature, history, ritual, harvest seasons, old objects, and slower living. I just didn’t have the language for it yet.

Earlier this year I injured my shoulder and was suddenly forced to stop. It was heartbreaking. I had finally found momentum, a beautiful busy season of markets, online orders, and growth - and then, very quickly, everything changed.

For weeks I struggled with the feeling that I had failed somehow.  But rest has a way of forcing you inward. When you can no longer keep moving, you start looking at things honestly from every angle.

And somewhere in that stillness I realised that if I wanted Beckah to continue, it couldn’t continue in the same direction.

At the beginning of Beckah, I wanted to stay true to my roots and foundations. But over time I had slowly become influenced by trends, by the pressure to always create something new, to stay ahead, to constantly offer more.

More designs.

More choices.

More novelty.

Last year, I kept hearing the same comments at markets:

“There’s so much choice.”

“I can’t decide.”

My customers were experiencing decision fatigue, and honestly, so was I.

Every market became a swirl of questions in my own mind.

What should I bring?

Those sold well last time.

I haven’t made those in a while.

Everyone loves those.

Maybe I should try these too.

And then someone made a comment that stayed with me:

“I think this may be too silly.”

At first, I reacted defensively. I think most people would. Part of me immediately thought: Well, I’ll make whatever I want.

But in the days afterwards, I kept thinking about it. And strangely, instead of upsetting me, the comment gave me permission to change.

That probably sounds odd.

But the truth is, I had already been longing to simplify. I just didn’t know how.

So I started gathering ideas, images, words, feelings, references, memories. I built a sounding board of where I wanted Beckah to go, and equally, where I no longer wanted it to go.  Over hours, days, and weeks, I started pulling everything apart and rebuilding Beckah around those four worlds.

Harvest.

Orchard.

Forage.

Ritual.

Four distinct worlds, but all connected by the same thread: returning to the roots of why I started creating in the first place.

And then I stripped everything back.

Not to become smaller - but to become clearer.