This week I noticed the hem on a pair of my shorts had come loose + frayed. As I bent down to pick up my shoes on the way out the door, my partner noticed my underwear peeking through a gash in the back of my jeans. The same day, as he put his shorts, he noticed that the crotch was torn out. 

Two weeks ago, I thought maybe I had gum on the bottom of my shoe + found that the tread had cracked + peeled away under the ball of my foot. This morning my partner noticed that the coffee press plunger was broken (again). 

This seemed like an odd pile up of things needing repair and attention all at once. I started thinking about faulty materials and design decisions...and while there may be some of that at play...in almost all of these cases, wear and tear is the main culprit. The jeans + shoes have been worn every day for a year and a half. His shorts were worn daily for most of the warmer days of the past year.

We didn't experience as much wear + tear in our wardrobes when we had more clothing. Things didn't get worn as often when we had more choice. When things did need repair, it was easier to let them go because we were probably tired of them + we had other things to wear instead. 

Today I mended my shorts + put them on to wear for the day. The jeans + his shorts are mended well enough to wear after work...and duct tape has held my shoes together well enough to wear for the past two weeks. 

I see all of this as part of my experiments with what is enough. I do like seeing my things through this part of their life span. It's a chance to push through some conventional thinking + see reality...to reimagine + experiment in different ways...to live into connection with people + planet...to shift + grow.
 
Love,
Jane

I love a good road trip...watching the sky + landscape change...taking turns choosing songs...stopping for the occasional gas station snack. There is time to daydream...imagine...think. It's amazing how much ground we can cover in one day...how much the climate can change...how different the grasses + trees + soils can be as we move from one part of this gorgeous country to another.

The world seems so much bigger + I feel so much more connected to all of it. 

Love,
​Jane

Eve Gravel is designed + made in Montreal. Most of their pieces are made from natural fibers in small batches. This brand values the people in their clothing's supply chain + feels that "it is crucial that everyone involved in the production chain receives a decent wage + works in a pleasant setting." 

I was able to try on the jumpsuit pictured above + found it to be quite beautiful in construction, look + feel. These pieces embody a simplicity that makes me feel like I could wear them over + over again in various situations without tiring of them. At the same time, they each have a little something unique that keeps them interesting.

All photos via Eve Gravel. Find this + so many more fair brands on our ethical brands page.

Primaries are coming in the USA, and there are so many things on the ballot. Let's not let anyone let it pass without realizing how much is at stake. Lena Wolff is at it again offering some beautiful artwork that can be used to make postcards + posters. 

It's strange all the things that I've run from
are the things that completeness could come from.

Let your life grow strong + sweet to the taste.
​

I love this song. I remember finding it for the first time...listening to it over + over...tears streaming down my face. I don't play it often, because it has that effect on me. Today, I listened to it again and something different stood out to me. It didn't seem quite so sad this time. It sounded more like...even so, it's worth it. Choose the juicy, sweet life...knowing the risk + all.

I've been stuck in spirals of doubt + uncertainty so often these days...aware of the fact that I'm stuck...sometimes choosing to stay in the quicksand just a little bit longer. I've had a harder + harder time choosing to live into the risk...even as I know that the risky choice is the only one in front of me that offers any possibility of completeness. Not taking the risk sometimes is it's own sort of risk. You know?

I'm not sure this will make sense to anyone else or if anyone else needs this today...but I'm gonna put it here, just in case. 

​Be gentle with yourself, friend.

Much love, 
Jane

We live in a designed world, surrounded by built systems and objects.
No object, no matter how small, is designed in a vacuum.
Design is in close conversation with other complex forces like labor,
the environment, our planet’s resources, technology,
communities on a local + global scale,
and future generations as well.
All of the decisions a designer makes
have an ecosystem of impact
that reverberates far beyond the acts of ideation + creation.
 
Historically, design has centered the human experience.
The value of a product has come from its beauty
and/or its ability to make life ‘better.’
But when we design solely with humans in mind,
it is all too easy to forget
that humans are not the only ones affected by what we make.
 
Can something be truly good design
if it’s bad for the planet, wildlife, local communities + workers?

The truly beautiful is one + the same with the truly good.
~Kalon 
​(image via link)

I imagine there are a few of us who have tackled simplifying our stuff in one category, but just haven't gotten around to seeing it as an issue in another category. This is a story about one such person.

J had a pretty minimal everyday wardrobe, but had a lot of clothing related to an athletic hobby. J spent a lot of time doing said hobby. J not only spent long hours doing the hobby, but spent much time on related social media, watching others do it competitively, reading about it + talking about it too.

Related to the stuff, J would say things like:

• "Someone gave me this, so I didn't have to spend money on it."
• "If I keep all of these things, I won't have to purchase anything new for a long time."
• "I don't have that many things."

When asked, "How many of this one item do you think you own?" "Oh, maybe 5," J answered. 

One day J agreed to grab all of their hobby related clothing from all of the various locations it was stashed around their home + to place it all in one spot. It made an enormous pile. Next J agreed to sort that pile into like items. This seemed to be when the volume of the items started to dawn on J. That one item they were asked about above? The actual count was 23. Twenty-three of one item that was only worn one season of the year...for a "hobby".

At this point, we can step back + tenderly ask a different sort of question. "Hey J, what are your priorities?" Now we are not talking strictly about stuff...but about what J values most in life. Is there a reason J has curated their everyday wardrobe, but has not been able to bear letting go of any of the things related to their hobby?

These can be a tough but telling questions to answer. On one hand, J wants to say that their partner + children are the top priority...that making sure these precious souls feel loved + cared for is the priority. Maybe they want to say that friends + community + generosity + service + doing good work are priorities...or maybe they have not thought about this question in a really long time + don't really know how to answer it.

Is it possible that stuff is betraying true priorities? Does where J spends most of his non-working hours point to the same thing? In this case, stuff + time priorities agree. Maybe looking like a successful athlete or having a sparkly social media tracking profile is J's actual priority. 

J can now decide if their intended + evident priorities agree...or if one is squeezing out the other...or if some realignment is in order. Intention can now inform action! Exciting!

Is there a clear picture of our priorities in our own stuff? It's strange how we can sort of become blind to our own stuff. I washed out a pot the other day + set it on the rug to dry. It's still sitting there a week later. I've just stopped seeing it as I step over it each day.

What can we start to see anew?

Love,
Jane

​
P.S. J was able to identify a number of each hobby item in appropriate alignment with their newly formed priorities. They were then able to select that number of each item + let the rest go (by offering it to others with the same hobby). J started to recognize that most of the others doing the same hobby only had one or two of each item + found it to be enough. J was able to adjust how much time was spent on the hobby too...and is currently living into a new set of priorities...consciously.  :)

Be someone who handles hard better.
If you have a meaningful pursuit in life,
it will never be easy.
~Kara Lawson