Every time I walk down the street and see this sign on an old-school Volkswagen Bug I can’t help but smile. It seems to catch my eye especially when I’m in my head trying to sort out and make sense of my own “unruly” life.
Part of my journey to create heart & meaning in my own life has been to explore the idea of being part of a collective and I had a good opportunity to experience it first hand as I participated in a Repurposing Clothing workshop at 25th Street Collective in Oakland earlier today.
I have to confess that I was hesitant to go as I felt tired and out of it and hadn’t really sewn in a while but I gathered a few things that I could alter and when I arrived saw piles and piles of clothing that were up for grabs for anyone wanting to play around. I was overwhelmed and I didn’t know where to start.
I decided I was just going to observe what others were doing and get inspiration for later. I also got an opportunity to look at some books there that dealt with how to approach repurposing fashion and wrote down some ideas.
I was in awe by the ease of how many around me, especially the youth, were cutting and playing around and just doing it. It occurred to me how much in my head I was and inspired by someone making a jean skirt, I decided to just go for it myself and found myself, eghads actually having fun putting the pieces together to make my own jean skirt while I soaked up the collective energy around me and participated in helping others with tasks, enjoying the multi-generational exchanges of tips, tricks and other classes they have taken, passersby stopping in curious what was going on. I left with my skirt almost finished and feeling inspired enough to make a blog posting about my experience and with the desire to do more creating with my hands.
Jean Skirt . . . a work in process
Living a life with heart and meaning in line with my core vision is a passion of mine. This journey hasn’t always been easy, yet I realize as I get older it is easier to make better choices. One theme of mine has been to stay off the hamster wheel. I even got a toy hamster on a wheel and turn it on whenever I feel that pull. It’s hard not to laugh and enough for me stay off of it and stay present to what is.
createheartmeaning 