Beyond Gift Tags: Reclaiming the Ripple

After eight years of The Ripple Practice, I’ve learned that sometimes you need to stop and reassess.

This month, I completely overhauled the Ripple Station. There was mold that needed addressing after months of fog and rain, but the bigger issue was the message wasn’t landing the way I intended.

What Changed

The design went back to my roots. I replaced the cheerful flowers on the roof with a mandala—owning more of my cultural identity and what feels true to this practice.

The verbiage changed too.

People were telling me they loved using the tokens as “gift tags” for their nieces’ and nephews’ birthdays. They’d be back for more for their extended family celebrations.

I appreciate that they found the tokens beautiful and useful. And they completely missed the point.

These aren’t gifts for family members. They’re acts of noticing. For strangers.

The Ripple Station now makes this abundantly clear.

When we normalize kindness toward strangers, especially people whose work often goes unseen, we’re practicing a different kind of generosity. The kind that requires us to pause and notice.

To see the mail carrier in the heat. The grocery stocker restocking shelves at 6 AM. The custodian keeping our spaces clean.

The Ripple Practice has always been about presence over performance, noticing over numbers.

Maybe this “new” messaging will mean that less tokens get picked up. Maybe it will create even more interest in this kindness ritual.

I don’t know how it will land but I know that sometimes a mission needs sharper focus, so it can continue to serve the people it was created for.