With Good Intentions
Why the name “With Good Intentions”?
People sometimes ask me how the name “With Good Intentions” came to be.
The truth is, I chose the name many years ago because it simply felt right.
At the time, I believed it reflected the way I wanted to create and the spirit in which I hoped my handcrafted pieces would be received.
Over the years, however, those three simple words have continued to teach me something much deeper.
There is a well-known saying:
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
For many years, those words made me uncomfortable.
Today, they don’t.
In fact, I believe they hold an important truth.
Good intentions alone do not always lead to good outcomes.
Many of us have acted from love, offered advice, or tried to help someone because we genuinely believed it was the right thing to do.
Yet over time, I have come to understand that what feels helpful to one person may not always be helpful to another.
Sometimes our good intentions are shaped by our own experiences, our own beliefs, or what has worked in our own lives.
But another person’s path may be different.
That does not make our intentions wrong.
It simply reminds us to remain humble, to listen more deeply, and to leave room for each person to discover what feels true for them.
For me, good intentions are where we begin... not where we finish.
They invite us to act with kindness, honesty and compassion, while remaining willing to listen, to learn and, when necessary, to change.
As life has unfolded, my faith has become an even more important compass in my life.
It has gently led me back to the source of what I believe, asking whether everything I create still reflects those values.
Not because I have all the answers.
Quite the opposite.
Because I believe truth should never be afraid of being revisited.
That question has shaped With Good Intentions more than any trend, product or marketing strategy ever could.
It has influenced the words I choose, the way I create, and the care I take not to tell others what they should believe or how they should heal.
Instead, I simply offer what has been meaningful in my own life and trust each person to discover what resonates with them.
Perhaps that is what With Good Intentions has always meant.
Not that I will always get everything right...
but that I will continue to create with an honest heart, remain open to learning, and return often to one simple question...
Does this still feel true?
For me...
that is the heart of With Good Intentions.
Maria
Founder & Artisan, With Good Intentions
Hello, I’m Maria.
I am the heart and hands behind With Good Intentions.
For me, creating has always felt like something more than making a product.
There is a quiet mystery in bringing something into being.
Sometimes a piece begins with an idea. Other times, it seems to arrive before I fully understand why.
The hands begin.
The materials gather.
The colours, textures and shapes slowly find their place.
And only later, once the piece has come to life, do I begin to understand what it may have been trying to say.
I have come to see creativity as something sacred.
Not because every piece belongs to me, but because every piece asks to be created with care, respect and humility.
Whether I am hand-rolling smudge wands, creating ceremonial feather wands, preparing botanical blends, selecting ritual vessels, or writing the words that accompany them, I try to remain mindful of the spirit in which each piece is made.
I do not believe my creations are mine to hold tightly.
They are made to be offered.
To find the person, space or moment they are meant to support.
There is great joy in that.
And sometimes, there is vulnerability too.
Because every artisan knows the ache of creating something with love and wondering whether anyone else will see what you saw in it.
But still, we create.
Because the act of creating is itself a form of trust.
A way of honouring beauty, mystery, and the quiet longing to bring something meaningful into the world.
At its heart, With Good Intentions is not only about what is made.
It is about the spirit in which it is created.
Maria
Founder & Artisan, With Good Intentions