The Six Degrees of Good

When I was a kid, I imagined often what the world would look like if everything and everyone was good. Five year old me said it best: “People are always nice to each other, the sun was always shining and I could have ice cream for breakfast whenever I want. There is color everywhere, and no one can tell me ‘no’.”

As I got older, dreaming became harder. The pressure of duty, expectations, and appeasing those around me took precedence over the world I wanted to create. I was reminded constantly that my dreams needed to align with “The Dream”: go to college, get a job and work the corporate ladder until I was the boss one day. My teachers and my elders said good things will come from The Dream, and they demanded that I get excited by The Dream. The Dream never felt right to me, but I went along with it anyway because I was fearful of the consequences of being deemed a failure.

When I graduated college, The Dream became my worst nightmare. My “dream” job was devoid of creativity, color, and excitement; each day was a boring repeat of the last that left me drained and uninspired. I lived in a sea of black and white suits and neutral-toned offices and the conversations were always about someone or something not being good. I could no longer use my imagination to escape because I had to use every ounce of my imagination to make my world tolerable. I felt cheated. I had nothing good to look forward to and I didn’t feel good.

“Am I the only person that feels this way?”

“Who am I?”

“What does being good even mean?”

The cycle of battling and convincing myself to fulfill The Dream created chaos within me and I spread that chaos to the world. Everything I touched crumbled into dust and despair. As it turns out, I am not the only person that feels this way. Lamenting and wailing about how much I hated The Dream got old and I started focusing my attention on finding answers to why I didn’t feel good. In the world around me, I saw patterns in my friends, family, and colleagues that I had experienced within myself. Was it possible that, collectively, we're all suffering from the same problems? Do we all feel like we’re living a life not meant for us? My energy to see and find good was depleted by the follies of daily life, and that was the common theme of my observations. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, lack of love, and feeling unprotected killed me and was killing everyone around me.

Ironically, I grew up surrounded by reminders that I am protected. The cheshm nazar, commonly known as the evil eye, is a protection talisman in the shape of an eye that is said to protect against malevolent glare and wishes of others. A staple in every Persian household, there were more cheshm nazar in my house than I could count. After a particularly bad day of living The Dream, I came home to find a cheshm nazar broken on my bedroom floor. A broken cheshm nazar is a good sign because it is confirmation that the cheshm nazar is doing it’s job and keeping evil at bay. Staring at the broken glass was my lightbulb moment: The Dream was not for me, never will be, and that is okay. I felt the most protected I had ever felt in this moment and it inspired my side hustle, good Group (shopgoodgroup.com). Feeling protected opened my heart up to the possibility that I could transcend The Dream, my shortcomings, fear, and anxieties and I could get back to what I do best: imagining.

I am passionate about reminding the world to be good to themselves. Embrace yourself, your passions, and your dreams, and tune out anyone or anything that doesn’t make you feel good. No dream is too big or too ridiculous! Dreaming is the highest form of self care, and good Group is my proof that you can make a living from the things you dream of. There are 7.674 billion people in the world, but according to the six degrees of separation, it only takes six people to change the whole world. Every cheshm nazar item I make is filled with love and well wishes carefully curated over twenty-two years of struggles, and every package is another opportunity to hopefully fulfill the tenets of the six degrees of seperation.

I’ll never stop dreaming of a good world, and I hope good Group inspires others to do the same. Changing the world is not a monumental task. All you have to do is change yourself, one thought at a time. Be good, love yourself, and remember that the good you do is for the good of the world.