From mantras to meditation, mindfulness to manifestation, Well Intentioned offers an intimate look at how to make space for self-care in meaningful ways, big and small.
Back in 2008, before Mindy Kaling was a writer-actor-producer-showrunner-mother-mentor, she was a writer-actor on The Office who used her spare time to blog about shopping, as one did in 2008. “Things I’ve Bought That I Love” was an outlet for her musings on things such as polo shirts, jumpsuits, and, say, blankets that are specifically suited to watching TV on your couch. “I’m sort of an unabashed consumer,” Kaling admits on a Zoom call that we’ve set up to discuss her consumerism, which, she notes, has become slightly more abashed over the past few years. “As I’ve gotten older, I'm trying to be a little bit more intentional about how I shop, so I try as much as possible to help small businesses.” Today, the 42-year-old entertainment powerhouse is putting those efforts into a curated holiday collectsion in collaboration with Amazon Handmade.
Partnering with the online marketplace’s maker-led platform, which aims to deliver one-of-a-kind products made by verified artisans from all over the world, was an easy sell for Kaling. “I love handcrafted items so it made sense to do this—especially before the holidays— because I can recommend products to people with a price point that is really good, and not alienating.” Kaling is “not great at visual art,” she admits, but her 24-piece line—which includes a handful of co-designed items—is heavy on unique pieces of home decor, a new area of interest she has developed over the past year-and-a-half while stuck inside her Los Angeles house. “Honeycomb Studio makes small-batch porcelain products that I really love. And it’s run by this woman Courtney Hamill, who works out of her backyard in Atlanta, and I just loved her story,” Kaling continues of the emotional connection she developed with select vendors as she engaged in virtual market calls and sent samples back-and-forth. The flax-linen white herringbone napkins she co-designed with Lithuania-based Thing Stories are a particular point of pride. “I’m obsessed with linen; I think it’s a really Southern California thing to be into—and this is just a beautiful product that anyone would love as a gift. You could give them to Kanye West, or you could give them to your mom,” Kaling says. “They’re just really simple, warm neutrals, at a great value and they’re intertwined with local traditions so they’re trendy, but they come from a personal place.”
Kaling, who has two young children, is fresh off the success of season 2 of her hit Netflix comedy Never Have I Ever, and she is currently preparing for the November 18 premiere of her new HBO Max series, The Sex Lives of College Girls—which is to say she doesn’t have a ton of time for new projects. But designing her own products is something she could get used to. “I would receive a box from Amazon with beautiful candles, or beautiful linens, or amazing cutting boards and I would be able to tweak them and send back notes, and I was like, ‘This is an amazing life. I wonder if this is what Jessica Alba is like all the time?” Her busy schedule also means that there isn’t a ton of time for self-care—or introspection. But Kaling finds those moments when she can, whether she’s cooking in the kitchen or making a vision board. “When you ask a comedy person about their intentions it makes us feel really vulnerable!” she laughs, before obliging, below.
