Somewhere, We’ll Find Our People

往下拉阅读中文版。

Growing Life, Protecting the Planet — The Way We Build OOS

Just one month ago, the OOS crew was near the Gyirong border, sitting by the roadside, playing music and singing with local children.

Only a month later, the green mountains and rivers we remember have changed beyond recognition. Seeing footage of roads we had walked and places where we had met people only weeks before is heartbreaking. We hope everyone we met is safe, and we hold them in our thoughts and prayers.

Moments like this remind us how much we have taken from nature — and how much we continue to leave behind.

Plastic. Waste. Overconsumption. Things that never belonged in the mountains, rivers or oceans in the first place.

The Earth has been carrying the consequences of the way we live for a very long time, but its capacity to absorb our impact is not infinite. Not every landslide, avalanche, flood or tsunami is caused by human activity, of course. But the climate crisis, pollution, habitat destruction and unsustainable consumption are intensifying the pressures on the natural systems we all depend upon.

How we treat the planet matters.

Protecting the Earth does not always require doing something extraordinary, nor should it become an empty slogan. None of us can change the whole world overnight. But all of us can begin with the small choices within reach: don't leave rubbish behind; use fewer single-use plastics; choose things that can be reused again and again; waste a little less; let go of the need for everything to be perfect; repair, reuse and appreciate what we already have.

These are small choices. But they are choices available to almost everyone.

In the face of nature, we are very small. And ultimately, the way we treat the natural world becomes part of the world we ourselves must live in.

Compassion and the Strength to Put It Into Action

At Out of Skool — we often talk about two ideas: Bodhicitta and Vajra Strength.

For us, they are not abstract spiritual concepts. They are something we try to practise through everyday life.

If charitable work can be understood as a practice of Bodhicitta — cultivating compassion and the wish to benefit others — then business can also become a practice of Vajra Strength: developing the practical strength, discipline and sustainability needed to turn good intentions into lasting action.

Business creates sustainable strength. Compassion reminds us why that strength exists.

The two do not have to oppose each other.

Yet we are often taught to think of charity and business as completely different worlds:

Charity = giving freely = selfless and noble. Business = exchanging money = profit-driven and worldly.

This can easily create another underlying structure: I have something → you lack something → therefore I help you.

Without meaning to, we create a hierarchy. One person becomes the giver, while another becomes the person being helped.

But real life is rarely so simple.

You may visit a school in the mountains and bring money, supplies or opportunities. A child there may give you a drawing. A story. A song. A completely different way of seeing the world. They may even change the direction of your life.

So who, exactly, helped whom?

Creating Opportunities to Contribute, Not Simply to Receive

At OOS, we try to practise a model of business that creates positive value.

A meaningful social model should not only ask: “Who did we help?” Perhaps a better question is: “Did we create a space where everyone had something meaningful to contribute?”

An artist creates value through their work and earns income from it. A child does not have to exist only as the recipient of a charity story. They can also be an artist, a storyteller and a creator whose imagination has genuine value. A customer does not have to “donate money to do something good.” They can simply buy something they genuinely love and will use for a long time — while allowing the value created by that purchase to continue travelling.

This idea became the foundation of our ongoing OOS Carabiner Mug Artist Collaboration Project.

A Drawing From the Mountains Can Travel the World

Over the years, I have travelled through many mountain regions. Along the way, I often visit local schools, children's homes and monasteries. Many of the children I meet love singing, drawing, music and making things. But in some remote mountain communities, art materials, musical instruments and opportunities for creative learning can still be difficult to access.

So I kept returning.

At first, I went alone. Over time, more people began joining me. We sing together. We make music. We draw. We create. But we are not there to “teach” children what we know. We are there to share time, space and creativity with one another. Through the OOS Artist Collaboration Project, illustrations created by artists and children from mountain communities around the world may become official designs in the OOS Carabiner Mug Collection. When an artwork is selected and used on an OOS product, the participating artist or the child's family will continue to receive royalties based on sales of the product featuring their work.

Because creative work has value. And we believe that value should be recognised.

Our hope is simple: A drawing that begins on a piece of paper — perhaps somewhere deep in the mountains — can travel with a little reusable mug to another city, another country, perhaps even to the other side of the Earth.

This project was never simply about putting a picture on a cup. It is about allowing creativity to be genuinely seen and appreciated. It is about protecting a child's love for art before the world tells them whether or not they are “good enough” at it. It is about allowing people separated by thousands of kilometres to meet through a cup, an image and a story.

We hope every OOS mug can carry a little hope and take someone's story somewhere it has never been before. And we hope every purchase can become part of a continuing circulation of value — while encouraging all of us to use what we own for longer and live a little more gently on this planet.

Bring OOS to Your City 🌍

We are currently looking for distributors, wholesalers, retailers and local partners around the world.

We are not in a rush to become the biggest. We would rather grow slowly, while protecting the reasons we started in the first place. We hope to meet people who share a similar vision — people who want to make things with care, support meaningful creativity, encourage more sustainable ways of living, and bring thoughtfully made products to communities that connect with the same values.

We believe business does not have to be only about growth and sales. And a business that seeks to do good does not have to be built upon exclusion or endless competition. Business can also become a shared practice - A practice of Bodhicitta and Vajra Strength:

To keep compassion in the heart, while developing the strength to put compassion into action.

To build something sustainable without forgetting why we are building it.

To take care of our own lives while also taking a little responsibility for the planet we all share.

The world is enormous. A lifetime is long — and very short. But the heart has room to be wide. We don't need to rush. Somewhere in this big world, there will always be a small corner and a group of people — not too many, not too few — who believe in similar things.

We can find one another slowly. And in the ways that feel true to us, we can each do something small for this world.

If you love OOS products and share the values behind what we do, we'd love to have you with us — and to bring OOS to your city. 🌍

Let Life Bloom. Keep Planet Safe.

上个月OOS小分队还在吉隆口岸附近的路边和当地的孩子们一起弹琴唱歌，短短一个月，青山绿水已经变了模样。看到镜头里曾经走过的路和遇见的人们，心痛，也希望他们平安，为他们祈福。

我们真的向自然索取了太多太多，也留下了太多太多不属于它的东西。塑料、垃圾、过度消耗……地球一直在承受，但它能够承受的，从来都不是无限的。泥石流、海啸、雪崩，等等这些自然现象，都是人类共同种下的因。

守护地球从来都不是做多大的事情，更不是一句空洞的口号，我们谁都没法儿一下子改变世界，但是我们可以从身边的一点一滴开始行动，不要随地丢垃圾，少用一次性塑料，多选择可循环使用的物件；少一点浪费，不要完美主义，多一点珍惜，这些都是我们每个人可以做出的举手之劳的选择。

在自然面前，人类微不足道。我们如何对待自然，最终也会回到我们自己身上。

和我们一起，把 OOS 带到你的城市 🌍

在 OOS 校外，生命成长、守护地球，是一场金刚力和菩提心的共修。

如果我们把做慈善看成是修菩提心，把做商业看成是修金刚力，那么，商业创造可持续的力量，慈善提醒这份力量最终为什么而存在。

商业和慈善从来都不是对立的。但是，传统观念里，人们容易将二者对立起来：慈善=免费赠与=无私高尚，商业=金钱交换=逐利世俗。人们容易形成这样的认知结构：我拥有 ➡️ 你缺少 ➡️ 我帮助你。这里很容易出现一种不平等：一个人变成“施予者”，另一个人成为“被帮助的人”。

但真实世界往往不是这样。你去一个山区学校，也许你带去了钱、物资或者机会；但那个孩子可能给你一幅画、一个故事、一首歌、一种看待世界的方法，甚至改变你之后的人生。

那么，究竟是谁帮助了谁？

在OOS校外，我们践行金刚力和菩提心共修的生命成长理念，我们践行向善的商业模式。好的社会价值模式，不应该只是“我们帮助了谁”，而更应该是：我们创造一个彼此都可以贡献价值的机会。

艺术家因为作品创造了价值而获得收入；孩子不只是慈善故事里的受助者，也可以成为创作者和讲故事的人；消费者也不是简单“捐钱做好事”，而是购买真正喜欢、真正可持续使用的产品，同时让价值继续流动。

基于这样的想法，我们发起了长期开放的 OOS 挂杯插画联动小游戏。

这些年我走过很多大山，也会在旅途中走进当地的学校、孤儿院和寺院。很多孩子真的很喜欢唱歌、画画和创作，但音乐、美术、乐器和绘画材料，在一些山区依然是稀缺的资源。于是我总是不定期地回到这些地方，起初只是自己，后来开始有小伙伴加入进来，我们和孩子们一起唱歌、玩音乐、创作。但我们不是去“教”他们什么，而是彼此分享时间、空间和创造力。

在这个插画联动小游戏中，来自不同山区的艺术家及孩子们的插画，将有机会成为 OOS 挂杯的正式设计。参与合作的艺术家和孩子的家庭，也将根据使用其作品的产品销售，持续获得创作版税。

我们希望，一幅诞生在画纸上、甚至大山深处的作品，可以跟着一只小小的杯子，去往另一座城市、另一个国家，甚至地球的另一端。

这个小游戏从来不只是“把一幅画印在杯子上”。我们希望让创作被认真地看见和欣赏，将孩子们对艺术的热爱小心爱护，也让原本相隔千里的人，因为一只杯子、一个故事，产生真实的连接；让每一只 OOS 挂杯，都带着一点希望，把故事带去更远的地方；让每一次购买，都成为一次持续流动的价值，也成为对这个星球温柔的守护。

目前，我们正在寻找来自世界各地的代理商、经销商、批发及零售合作伙伴。我们不求做大做强，我们只求在守住本心的前提下，慢慢链接到有同样愿景的伙伴，一起用心做热爱的事，把用心做出来的产品，分享给有同样愿景的人。

我们希望，商业不只是关于增长与销售，向善的商业也无需建立在排他与竞争之上。它可以成为一场共同的修行——在生命成长的路上，共修菩提心与金刚力：心怀慈悲，也拥有将这份慈悲付诸行动的力量。在做好自己的同时，也一起守护我们共同生活的地球。

世界很大，一辈子很长，也很短，心可以很辽阔，我们慢慢来，总会有那一方天地，有那么一群人，不多不少，刚刚好，我们按照喜欢的游戏模式，为这个世界做一点小小的事情。

如果你喜欢 OOS校外 的产品，也认同我们的理念，欢迎和我们一起，把 OOS 带到更多地方。