Sometimes I just haven’t seen or known I was damaging something.
Especially when it’s behind me or it’s in my blindspot. We all do this but do we own it. We then have a choice, do we fix it, or get advice on best way to solve, or simply walk away or discard without responsibility? As we gain a higher consciousness it demands higher integrity. It’s no longer ok to ignore impact. Some of you might feel this is a new stretching approach that might not be profitable or time-consuming to begin with, but for me it’s ingrained and I make even more effort to lead this habit.
These are my beautiful pyjama bottoms (which I don’t wear too much) but without realising, in wandering around and going outside in them in my garden (sometimes barefoot and knowing they were too long for me), I damaged them at the back. This, for me, represents life.
How we tread too unconsciously on the planet and, sometimes, on others without realising – causing an unconscious hurt or damage that we just don’t see.
Often we need to look back and reflect. Only then can we realise that there’s maybe something to repair before we can re-wear it and reuse ♻️ restore.
When I begin to reflect on my own journey now as a sewer, designer, fashion forager, upcyclist, traveler….now ex-wife and co-parent, I feel I probably hurt as much as I repaired or tried to prevent damage. When we are being hurt we find it hard to see how we damage. We are both the victim and the perpetrator. The innocent and the guilty – the shadow and the light.
The only way we heal is owning our shit where it needs putting right. Showing up & not walking away from the damage we’re too scared to face. We can’t keep doing what we’ve done before expecting a different result,
wasting again & again until there’s nothing salvageable? Time to break the chain. ⛓️💥
This is the sacred mirror for how we treat the planet, our products (for mass consumers who dont know another way) and it can be a mirror in our relationships. This is definitely, in most cases, the way we abuse our clothes. Forgetting these garments began as seeds 🌱 in the soil or extracted from oil, then into a fruit or flower and processed into a fibre before it can be dyed, woven, knitted, to even begin being created & cut, seen by a maker one at a time, labelled, tagged, packaged and delivered to even begin being put into a shop or a storeroom and allocated to a staff member. With so many that buy new, then throwaway as if no longer worthy. That’s harsh, and a hangover of a majority of baby boomers (depending on your demographic and wealth) unconsciously bringing us up to over-consume, under care and never repair. Can you now do the opposite?
We can no longer as humans just go out and buy /gather something new in replacement as default to make us feel new, nice, clean or complete when underneath we’re still full of the same old crap or not facing a consequence!
My moto: “Cherish everything and everyone!”
Repair and care once you realise you’ve broken it.
Don’t hide your mistakes with the ones or the things you love the most. Make good.
For it to really heal, hold on, say you’re sorry, stop ✋ – mend it. Repeat if necessary. A metaphor for life…… and our clothes’ metaphor.