One of my bibliophile friends frequents his local library’s infamous monthly book sales and distributes the inexpensive treasures he finds there as ‘prizes’ for our families’ regular Wizard games. The other night I received (for 4th place, no less) a gorgeous book that appeared to have been produced by an international group I’d not yet heard of, Felissimo.

I was initially enchanted by the beauty of the book’s design and
imagery, but almost immediately I became equally intrigued by the text,
which was presented in both English and Japanese. Here is an excerpt from the
introduction:

"All life is interdependent. No matter how proud we are of our
intellect, no matter how wonderful the civilizations we create, human
beings simply cannot live alone. Nature is the thread that binds all
lives together… we know many things. But what truly makes us happy?
At Felissimo, we have devoted ourselves to unraveling this paradox and
we have come to the conclusion that "love" is the answer. This does not
mean, simply, to love another person, but rather to embrace all life
with a deep, abiding respect."

Apparently Felissimo (which is made of two Latin words that mean
‘bliss’, & ‘with emphasis’) is a design company devoted to a ‘whole new
way of doing business’. They have a philanthropic arm, or perhaps it is more accurate to say they are an entirely philanthropically-motivated business, which supports a whole slew of creative and environmentally positive projects in an activation of their basic philosophy, which is to make a better world through applied creativity.

Bravo, Felissimo!