Get to Know the Roots

I am a non-binary queer settler and creator residing on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh.

Root Bound Bindery, formally BARE COLT // collective, has been slowly establishing its roots in part of my being's purpose as my love for words and keeping journals has always been an intrinsic part of my life.  I can confidently say that journaling is the reason I'm still thankfully standing within this earthly realm.  I used to fill book after book with my every thought and feeling as the pages accompanied me in my intensely shy and introverted growing up years.  After experiencing a life-altering loss in 2013, my ability to flow through words seemingly vanished.  I still carried journals with me every where I went, however, seldom did a word come to rest on a page, let alone fill one entirely. 

In 2015 I happened upon a bookbinding tutorial guiding me to make a book for my brother and his wood working business, thus blooming a new step toward giving others the gift of filling pages within safe spaces that I so cherished for many years prior.

Root Bound Bindery is a metaphor acknowledging the fact that we all could use a little extra space and love to grow into at times.  When the roots of a plant grow too great to continue to be contained in the space that holds them, they become tangled, tense and have difficulty absorbing the nourishment needed for continued growth; much like how mental and physical stresses can impact our very own beings.  Journaling has been an incredibly healing act for me, and I hope that through my heart song of creating safe spaces for others to sing into, it can be for you too. To hold your words, your heart, your art and your very soul.  

Root Bound Bindery is committed to changing old narratives and empowering heart stories.  Highlighting what it means to be a living, breathing, giving being on this earth, and all the ways we come to share the very stories we hold. This is a platform that helps to uplift stories that surround us through sharing resources and knowledge, highlighting mutual aids, and supporting community initiatives as much as possible. 

Root Bound Bindery strives to be as accessible as possible; please reach out to me if my prices are not accessible for you and we can discuss how to get a book to your hands through a payment plan, pay what you can, or trade.  

Through the evolution of these books, I am slowly but surely moving away from sourcing fresh materials to using only repurposed, salvaged, and recycled materials whenever possible, making the books completely degradable and sustainable as possible; the ground will surely be calling them home to rest and become the earth again some day. I stand in solidarity with Indigenous land protectors and will not perpetuate further harm and invasion to their sacred lands.  

Thank you for being here to be a part of and witness this ever-unfolding path of witnessing ourselves, and witnessing one another in learning and supporting nourishment of the very roots of our beings. 

Much love always,

Cody