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The other day for the first time I heard about something called a “fire tornado.” It’s just what it sounds like, and they’ve happened in California and Australia.

Here is a nutshell explanation. And here’s an article about the first-ever one sighted, back in 2003 in Australia. And if you want to see what one looks like, just google images for “fire tornado.” From the number of images, apparently they are not as “rare” as they used to be.

I’m not prone to fire-and-brimstone preaching, but if I were a fire-and-brimstone preacher for climate awareness, I’d surely invoke fire tornadoes as an image.

Here is footage of one forming.

Further Reading:

• “In the West, Lightning Grows as a Cause of Damaging Fires” (John Schwartz and Veronica Penney, NYTimes.com). “Warmer temperatures and drought are expected to reach other parts of the country as warming continues. Recent research suggests that combinations of extreme heat and drought that could make lush forests more prone to fire are occurring together more frequently — not just in the American West, but also in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States, as well. As Craig Allen, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, put it, wildfire could be ‘coming soon to a landscape near you. Wherever you are.'” (This is why I emphasize residential landscaping choices so much on this blog. Re-vegetate landscapes and turn the soil back from sieve or cement to water-absorbing sponge; it’ll help repair the hydrological cycle. This is a key leverage point accessible to everyday people.)

• “After the Fires” (Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee, tabletmag.com). “[W]hen you experience a month under wildfire evacuation warning, with a few bags packed, somehow you are reduced to essentials, to the values that support you rather than the possessions that burden you. … Both the pandemic and the wildfires were caused by an imbalance in nature, the pandemic by wildlife habitat destruction, the wildfires by unseasonable dry lightning and warmer, dryer conditions making the land combust. The most basic question is how to return to a place of balance … Will we have to wait centuries before a new civilization is born from the ashes, one that is not built upon violence against nature, extraction, and pollution, but once again recognizes the earth as an organic, interdependent living being to which we belong?” “Will this moment’s challenges—and those unknown still to come—help our civilization move past an obsession with material prosperity?”

(Sound advice from Joan Pancoe, Modern Mystic):

“…[S]ince we all do live in 3D, a plane of relative truth, it is unrealistic to dwell solely in the realm of the Absolute, unless we are fully enlightened beings with no return to lesser states. And how many of us can say that?

“In fact, any spiritual philosophy or teaching that propounds a perspective of reality with no polarities, contradictions or paradoxes is NOT OF THIS EARTH as it now is. So, trying to live solely by these absolute or ultimate truth teachings—whether from Advaita Vedanta (Krisnamurti, Adyashanti, Eckhart Tolle, etc.) or Christian Science (more recently Course in Miracles etc.) is unsustainable as a way of life.

“Accordingly, anyone who is attempting to exist exclusively in an absolute reality with no duality, while in an incarnation in the earth plane where relative truth is the rule, as many die-hard “new-agers” try to do, is going to end up triggering feelings that something is inherently wrong or inadequate within their beings. 

“My solution to this rejection and denial of 3D reality as merely a delusion or samsara or, conversely, to rage and frustration at not having even an illusion of control over the duality of the physical plane, is to utilize a perceptual split-screen to view relative and absolute levels of reality simultaneously.

“This means that, on one side of the screen, I live fully embodied in the world as it is, wholeheartedly playing the game of Life amidst so much Divine orderly chaos. I still have my preferences on the individual personality level and act on these preferences as desired. On the other side of the split-screen, I’m holding the vision of the absolute reality in which we’re all One Being with billions of faces and everything is part of the Tao—with no exceptions.

“The key is to not be so attached to having our preferences met—especially in terms of how the relative reality of the world is playing out now in the Kali Yuga (Dark Ages)—that we cause ourselves undue suffering.

“I view the Earth Game as an infinite perpetual motion machine in which souls incarnate to learn how to grow into cocreators with All That Is, while healing their karma. And, without doubt, the physical plane is definitely the best show in the Universe in this regard.”

(This quote is from the edition of Joan’s email newsletter dated October 2020. The title is “October Surprise Invitation.” To sign up for her newsletter and see her other offerings, visit her website.)

Solid advice from White Eagle, Hopi Indigenous Wisdomkeeper (via a Facebook friend-of-a-friend):

“This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the portal is up to you.

“If you repent of the problem and consume the news 24 hours a day, with little energy, nervous all the time, with pessimism, you will fall into the hole. But if you take this opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal. Take care of your homes, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual House.

“When you are taking care of yourselves, you are taking care of everything else. Do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis; have the eagle aspect from above and see the whole; see more broadly.
There is a social demand in this crisis, but there is also a spiritual demand — the two go hand in hand. Without the social dimension, we fall into fanaticism. But without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and lack of meaning. You were prepared to go through this crisis. Take your toolbox and use all the tools available to you.

“Learn about resistance of the indigenous and African peoples; we have always been, and continue to be, exterminated. But we still haven’t stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire, and having fun. Don’t feel guilty about being happy during this difficult time.

“You do not help at all being sad and without energy. You help if good things emanate from the Universe now. It is through joy that one resists. Also, when the storm passes, each of you will be very important in the reconstruction of this new world.
You need to be well and strong. And for that, there is no other way than to maintain a beautiful, happy, and bright vibration. This has nothing to do with alienation.

“This is a resistance strategy. In shamanism, there is a rite of passage called the quest for vision. You spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When you cross this portal, you get a new vision of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties.

“This is what is asked of you:

“Allow yourself to take advantage of this time to perform your vision-seeking rituals. What world do you want to build for you? For now, this is what you can do — serenity in the storm. Calm down, pray every day. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day.

“Good things emanate; what you emanate now is the most important thing. And sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith, and love.”

(As I said, this quote was shared via a friend-of-a-friend on Facebook. If I find a website, book, or other link for the writer, I’ll post it here.)

One of the main roots of war and other conflict in the world is the tendency of human beings to project evil onto other people. This means seeing the bad in others without being able/willing to see any corresponding tendency in ourselves. “Those other people” get identified in our minds as the bad ones that are causing all the trouble, or at least starting it.

The process of getting in touch with and owning our own “dark side” is sometimes called “shadow work,” and it’s an essential step to co-creating an enlightened society, not to mention experiencing true liberation and happiness on a personal level.

(Important Note: As I see it, “Owning our shadow,” “shadow work,” etc., is in the realm of metaphysical or spiritual work. It does not invalidate, or remove the need for, one’s political or moral beliefs, and actions to counter evil in the world.)

The other day I came across a quote that really nails our current contentious times as they relate to owning our shadow: “So if you’re wondering, dear reader, why those of us in the USA live in a country where one party accuses the other of being full-blown goose-stepping Nazis and the other party insists that the first are Satan-worshiping pedophiles, where compromise has become a swear word and both sides have convinced themselves that all they have to do is come up with the right gimmick and the Shadow they hate so much will pop like a bubble, now you know. The bitter irony, of course, is that they’re both wrong. No matter how many self-proclaimed Frodos drop surrogate Rings into notional equivalents of Mount Doom, the Shadow will not go away, because it’s being projected by the people on both sides who have convinced themselves that they’re fighting it.
He knows … If there’s a solution—other than mutual slaughter, that is—maybe it’s to be found in the first Shadow we discussed, the one who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. (Not, please note, their minds—it’s in the heart, the seat of unbalanced passion and distorted love, where the evil that matters has its root.) That tremendous, mordant, terrifying laugh is only possible for one who has already confronted the unbalanced passion and distorted love in his own heart. If there’s a way forward for us here in the United States, that knowledge might just provide it.” The full article is here. (“What Evil Lurks,” by John Michael Greer at Ecosophia.)

And another goodie, which landed in my email inbox just now: “Having the ability to see something in another person, and automatically bring this observation back to ourselves, is like having a built-in system of checks and balances that enables us to be continually engaged in self-exploration and behavior change. When we see behavior we don’t like, we can make a concerted effort to weed it out of ourselves, and when we see behavior we do like, we can let it inspire us to engage in imitation. Through this process, we read our environment and let it influence us to bring out the best in ourselves.” (This quote comes from an article titled “Checks and Balances,” by Madisyn Taylor at DailyOM.)

Things that can help you own your shadow include therapy, writings (Carl Jung and many others), 12-step programs, and hanging out with other people who get this. Personally, my favorite tools for quickly identifying and dismantling my projections (or any other patterns I identify as being out-of-integrity with my higher self), are the Personal Integrity Minicourse (and other materials from The Avatar Course). The Personal Integrity Minicourse is available as a free download from this page. It’s #6 on the page.

On a topical note: With elections coming up next Tuesday, and a lot of people surely feeling averse to going through the big day/night alone, I offer you my official “Deep Green Election Watch Party recommendation.” And that is: Outdoor small gathering + Zoom combo. A few neighbors walk to your house and come sit in your driveway, or you go sit in theirs (or meet at a neighborhood park); while friends/family located beyond your immediate area connect by Zoom or phone. This covers all the bases: low-footprint, public-health-conscious, and nurturing community.

This post has been in the “Drafts” hopper for a while. Money is a major topic, and it can be hard for people to speak openly about. But I feel we need to. Too many of us don’t know what other people are dealing with. Also, getting a grasp of where our own financial profile falls in the scheme of things is a good reality check for how much we might be inadvertently putting pressure on economies and ecosystems worldwide.

Awhile back, I found online calculators that allowed me to put my financial situation in perspective. One was a worldwide calculator; the other was specifically for the USA. Unfortunately it looks like the first site is no longer working, but I dug up another one for you to use.

Global Wage Calculator: Compare Your Salary (from cnn.com). Lets you calculate where your annual earnings stand in your country, and worldwide. I found out that my annual income of about $12K (before taxes) is about four times what a teacher in Ethiopia makes; twice what a cleaner in Thailand makes; and about the same as what a driver in South Africa makes.

And: Net Worth Percentile Calculator USA

Here are some hypothetical net worth and income scenarios, and the percentile that they signify for a person or household:

• home equity 129k, investments 165k, possessions $500 = top 3.94% in world

• investments 0, possessions a mere 1,000 = still top 68.58% in world!

• a millionaire is top 0.56% in world (i used investments only)

Net Income – world:

7k top 19.54%

13k top 11.62%

15k top 7.91%

• Even a person making just 4k annual income is still in top 26.72% in the world!

• if 10k then top 16.01% in world

Net worth USA https://dqydj.com/net-worth-percentile-calculator-united-states/

300k net worth = 71st percentile

1k net worth = 14.5 percentile

Income USA https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/

USA avg income 2018 = $55,880; median $39,048; top 10% = $114,068; top 5% = $153,420.

7k income = 10th percentile in USA; 13k income = 16th percentile in USA; 15k = 18th percentile in USA. (These numbers are pre-tax incomes I’ve had in recent years.)

I hope you enjoy the calculators! Did you get any surprises? I’ll be back sometime later with some thoughts on how this is all related to living abundantly but lightly on the earth.

By the way, 10 percent of the world’s people live in extreme poverty — defined by the World Bank as living on $1.90 per day or less.

In closing, I want to leave you with this quote from Bill Mollison, who co-founded the permaculture design movement: “All money arises from the wealth of the natural world (plants, clean air, clean water, stored energy). The accumulation of unused wealth, or wealth that does not lead to the proliferation of life, is a pollution of the same nature as any unused resource. Manure and money have so much in common.” –Bill Mollison in Permaculture, A Designers’ Manual, p 533.

Certain things have taken their toll on me. As an eco activist, I have become accustomed to having my concerns for Earth and her creatures ridiculed as flaky, sappy, hippie, fluffy, not living in the real world. I’ve often seen people roll their eyes or sneer while I was speaking up about environmental concerns at church or a civic meeting.

At one point I noticed, “Wow, being a frequent target of low-grade condescension or outright contempt is stressful! It has taken its toll!”

I recommend everyone do the same. Recognize the things that have carved wounds inside your heart. Not to let them bring you down, but so you can engage in the appropriate self-care you need to persevere in your mission. Whatever your mission is, be it to eradicate racism, help your family and community weather tough economic times, save the planet for future generations, share your spiritual truth, or what have you.

Recognize your hurts, give them their due. It’ll help you stop beating yourself up for being “lazy”; “not doing enough”; etc. to fully, deeply take in the realization that certain things have just flat-out sapped your juice.

And once you’ve taken in that realization, get whatever help you need, be it through reading, a workshop, counseling, church or other spiritual community, solo hike or retreat, writing in a journal, plain old sitting and introspecting — whatever.

And then keep going with your good work! You know it’s good, regardless of what naysayers naysay, or haters hate. (Many haters are just recreational anyway. In the long run they don’t stand a chance against people who are actively working for the good. Not that it still doesn’t sting and demoralize a person to be on the receiving end of hatery.)

In my book DEEP GREEN, I have a chapter called “Get Your Mind In Order” that includes links to some books, courses, videos, and other resources that have been lifesavers for me, as an activist and as a being. (My book is now available free for anyone to read online here on this blog, as well as still being available in print form (contact me, or scroll down this page for the Buy Now button).

Self-care and planetary care are both necessary! Love yourself, love the planet.

LATER, same day: I just now had coffee with a friend, and he told me a story that ended up being relevant to this post. I was telling him about a “Hoarders”-level house-cleaning job I’m in the middle of. (Cleaning being one of the side-things I do to financially support myself to be able to be a full-time sustainability educator/activist. It pays well and I enjoy it.) I was telling my friend that the house was so packed with stuff, I didn’t even know how the residents (who now live in a nursing home) could even get to the bathroom or bedroom.

My friend told me that back in college, he’d keep his textbooks even after the semester was over because he hated the fact that he’d only be able to sell them at a fraction of the price he bought them for. He ended up with massive amounts of heavy books, which he carted around with him for a couple of moves til he wised up and realized it wasn’t worth the headache. So he went ahead and sold them or gave them away.

Where that story is relevant to this post is that some of us end up hanging on to our inner wounds in similar fashion. It’s as if we decide (probably not consciously), “I paid for those, dammit, and I’m going to keep them!”

Those inner scrapes and bangs might even hold some sort of self-righteous appeal, as a weapon we carry around in case we might need it. If you’ve ever done this (as I have in the past, before I learned how not to), you’ll know what I mean.

And now I say, “Those things are heavy! I don’t care how much I paid for ’em, I am happy to let them go for free right now!”

Emotional baggage can (and often does) end up adding to one’s financial overhead and eco-footprint in various ways. Free your mind; free the planet.

Further Exploration:

“Impressions“: One of my favorite talks about dealing with life’s wounds; how we have the power to heal them. The stories are sweet yet powerful. “What happens when things interact? What impressions are left behind? What kind of stories do we create to explain the impressions that life leaves? … The events of life leave tracks in our consciousness … This talk by Harry Palmer, the author of the Avatar® materials, was recorded live at the July 2009 International Avatar Course in Orlando, Florida. (length 33:00)”

No, this isn’t a post telling you how to dress. (If you’ve met me in real life, you can probably already guess that!) Rather, I’m setting out to share some ideas on creating a low-footprint wardrobe that works for your lifestyle and climate, and is a one-of-a-kind expression of your aesthetic sensibilities while costing little money.

Some tips, in no particular order:

If you design and sew your own clothes, hooray you! Your wardrobe is already one-of-a-kind. You can minimize its footprint by choosing easy-wash, easy-dry fabrics. If you can get your fabric from the remnants aisle, or at thrift stores, or if you can repurpose old fabric from other clothes, all the better — for your wallet and for the planet.

But most people I know don’t design and sew their own clothes, though a few do. (I’m mainly addressing a USA-based audience here.)

Myself, I know how to sew, but my forte is “editing” existing clothes rather than making from scratch. You can do this even if you don’t sew; it’s amazing what you can do with just scissors. That said, sewing is a great skill to have, and an enjoyable way to pass the time. Also: Hemming is pretty simple to get the hang of, and other than embroidery or other decorative stitching, hemming is pretty much the only sewing skill you really need for “editing” clothes to your liking.

Hems on your own clothes don’t need to be perfectly even; the stitching can be uneven lengths, a bit crooked. Your stuff doesn’t have to conform to industrial standards! In fact, there is even a DIY fashion movement that prizes obvious hand-stitching and other imperfections signaling handmade.

As it happens, I have a strong aesthetic preference for asymmetry and ragged edges. But if you prefer symmetry and straight hems, I am confident that you can attain your own standard. In the olden days, just about everyone sewed (even men, sometimes!). Or, you can pay someone in your community to do hems and other alterations for you. You might even be able to barter — but I find that local cottage-based stitchers charge shockingly low prices for their work. If I needed something symmetrical (pant hems etc.), I could probably get it done really well for about $12 — which is roughly just a little over my average hour’s wages. Well worth it to me to get pants hemmed in exchange for an average hour of my pay, if I had pants needing hems.

Repair or alteration can double as decoration. Appliqué, embroidery are easier than you might think, and they can greatly extend the life of your clothes while creating a one-of-a-kind garment. I once got a gorgeous red wool sweater from a thrift shop for $2. It had several moth holes in it but I concealed them by stitching on red hearts in a shiny fabric. The hearts were the same shade of red as the sweater, but the shiny aspect made for a pretty contrast.

Almost all my clothes come from thrift shops, or from friends getting rid of old clothes. I then “after-market” them by cutting off collars, trimming sleeves to my desired length, customizing skirt lengths, adding embroidery, crochet, or seam binding, and so on.

With a pair of scissors, any sweater or other pullover can instantly become a cardigan, tie-front top, etc. The reverse is true too: You can easily convert a cardigan into a pullover by stitching the front together.

I notice that my wardrobe is determined mainly by 1) the hot humid climate I live in; 2) my active outdoorsy lifestyle; 3) ease of care (easy to wash by hand, quick to dry on the line); 4) what feels both cute and comfortable (for me, that tends to be stretchy clothes such as leggings, stretch skirts, tank tops; for you it might be something else). Also 5) I don’t want to have to think very hard to get dressed. For me, what works is having very few clothes. A sort of uniform, with a bit of variation. A few tank tops, a few skirts, a couple of long-sleeved tops, a couple of wool sweaters, a couple pairs of stretchy leggings.

You might find it helpful to run through that list of variables and see what your own answers are. Another variable for you might be, How much do you need to shield your skin from sun or wind?

The more time you spend outdoors or in non-climate-controlled indoor settings, the more urgent it becomes to have a wardrobe that’s really suited to your climate, and to your physical constitution (are you hot-natured, or do you get cold easily? etc.).

Warning! Nowadays, some clothes that seem to be designed for hot weather are made of fabrics that are NOT hot-weather-friendly. The first time I saw nylon sundresses for sale at a local shop, I was struck speechless.

Old-school summer fabrics such as gauze and seersucker are great for hot-weather clothes. I find a lot of good summerweight garments at thrift shops. Use as-is, or edit.

T-shirts are another good source of fabric. Note: Even within the category of 100% cotton, there is much variation in fabric weight. The difference between thicker and thinner fabrics can determine if a garment will be breathable or stifling on a hot day. BTW old t-shirts can be made into sleeveless tops or even skirts with little or no stitching. (Without the top 6 inches or so which includes the sleeves and collar, an old t-shirt becomes a tube-shaped garment which can be made into a skirt or haramaki.) Conversely, a thicker t-shirt might allow a person to go without a bra. Finally: Avoid buying t-shirts new. There are so many feral t-shirts out there in need of good homes!

For both extremely hot and extremely cold weather, the new “high-tech” fabrics used by the sport-clothes industry to make clothes for cycling, hiking, etc., can be great. Naturally, clothes made with these fabrics tend to be expensive. But a few key pieces such as a sweat-wicking tank top can be worth the investment. Also, I sometimes find used high-tech athletic shirts and other clothes for sale at thrift shops.

Don’t buy thread, fabric, needles, lace, embroidery floss, seam tape, buttons, or other supplies new without checking around first. Someone right in your neighborhood probably has an overflowing sewing-basket (or a whole room), and would be happy to part with supplies for cheap or free. You can trust me on this: I am that person with that supply closet! And there are many many others like me. many of us are storing supplies accumulated by multiple generations of women, and no matter how much we might love doing needlework, we have no hope of using up these supplies in our lifetime. Post a notice on NextDoor or your neighborhood Facebook page or whatever, saying what you need.

Not only supplies, but also possibly instruction, is available for cheap or free. YouTube is a treasure trove. Or ask that neighbor with a garage-full of supplies if she’d be willing to teach you a few things for cash or barter. I must confess, I find most sewing instructional vids off-putting because they are very precise and can involve many exacting steps because they’re doing it the “official” way. You might enjoy that aspect though!

To add variety, I have a couple dozen pairs of earrings and a few neck scarves. And a few hats. Easy to add to any outfit.

I’ve lived and worked mainly in hot humid climates, but have lived in places with cold winters as well. The one constant I’ve noticed, whether in hot or cold weather, is that layering seems to work best . So even if I go north to visit my family in the winter, I don’t need a special “winter coat.” I just layer an old nylon jacket over other layers of clothes. (Obviously if I were living in Minnesota or something, I’d probably have to have more dedicated “winter clothes.”) Anyway, one of my main bits of advice if you want a more comfortable, versatile, practical wardrobe is: LAYERS! And tank tops are a great inner layer in all climates.

In the past, I have had separate clothes for different categories: gardening and other outdoor chores; exercising; everyday; and “dress-up.” But in recent years, I find that the categories have for the most part become merged. Skirts are actually great for gardening and other chores; I find them more comfortable than pants.

In some climates, trousers might be essential. I will never forget the week I spent at a beautiful eco-village in North Carolina back in 2005 for a bioregional congress. It was July, and my good ol’ trusty black tights were ZERO protection against chigger bites. I needed sturdy non-stretch pants, with high boots. At the end of the trip I had about 100 bites on each leg! I was miserable for weeks afterward!

I’m not the only one: A lot of women I know who are into permaculture, farming, or other outdoorsy occupations wear skirts, sarongs, etc. even when doing manual labor.

It reminds me of photos I’ve seen of women in India, East Asia, Africa, looking very elegant yet comfortable as they go about their work in their saris, sarongs, or other traditional garments. Someone on Facebook posted a series of photos of mothers from around the world carrying their babies as they work. Let’s see if I can post the link here. Here you go. Hope it works!

And: You can see photos of me in a couple of my main outfits in this post on my Deep Green Facebook page.

One distinctive feature of my wardrobe that has emerged in recent months is very short tops worn over a longer top. I started this when I could no longer bear the feeling of any kind of bra against my ribcage in our hot ultra-humid climate, yet wanted an extra layer of fabric over my breasts. I would be so happy if it became a bit more “mainstream legit” to go braless if one chose, and I sometimes do that, but I often feel a bit self-conscious, like I’m “flashing” people. (Then again, guys have nipples too, right? Some even have boobs. And yet they don’t feel compelled to wear bras. Ah, social norms!) Anyway: The cropped outer top gives me that extra layer without the sweaty, pinched skin around the ribcage.

So: Wardrobe-wise, what’s working for you? What isn’t? Is there a garment you wish someone would invent? Or one that you wish did not exist?

Further Reading:

A Prescription for How to Begin Slow-Stitching (Mark Lipinski). “If you’re feeling creatively bare, mojo melancholy, and inspirationally barren, you need to find an antidote – and fast! For creative types like us, being in a visionary funky-dunk can feel lethal and lead to burn out, over eating, compulsive shopping, a mild depression, a messy house, anxiety, crankiness and more. Boosting your creativity, pumping up your brain power, and finding your creative self again is key to kick starting and maintaining our healthy and balanced lives. …Purposeful and focused immersion while stitching or craft making is like a fascinating elixir that benefits us in physical, emotional, financial, and spiritual ways. It gives us a brand new way of looking at our work and how we approach the world in general.”

The Life-Changing Magic of Slow Sewing (Leslie Rutland, seasonedhomemaker.com). “There really is something magical about working with your hands which is why I titled this post The Life-Changing Magic of Slow Sewing. Being able to slowly create something with my hands seems to alter time a little. It takes me from multi-tasking down to doing just one simple task. When I’m in this place I can feel myself breathe.” Bonus: This article includes an embedded video “The Quilts of Gees Bend.” In Rutland’s words, “Have you heard of the quilters from Gees Bend, Alabama? You could say they wrote the book on slow sewing. You will have to watch this video because there.are.no.words.”

Sashiko: What “visible mending” means to crafters (vox.com): “Instead of hiding rips and tears, the visible mending movement turns them into art. Born from the Japanese art of sashiko, visible mending enables crafters to eschew fast fashion and make mistakes beautiful.”