I have been thinking about “Sustainability” a lot. A few days ago, I had a conversation with a college student. I try my best to allocate my time to answer requests from students: our future, who makes the future we live on. I have been doing that here and there, and I start feeling the “Sustainability” they carry is somewhat different from “Sustainability” I hear from other “adults”. It is a complex concept, and sensitive & challenging to define what “Sustainability” is. However, one thing I can say is, [If one’s Sustainability is valued based on someone’s Sustainability’s sacrifice, it isn’t really the Sustainability]. Or, do we think one’s Sustainability is more important than others? If so, who makes that choice?
☆
“Sashiko is Sustainable Stitching, so we can do/use whatever” – the statement itself isn’t wrong, but this person’s Sustainability can destroy the Sustainability in Sashiko. Sustainability cannot be the word to excuse us from thinking & facing. I sometimes think, for some (especially those with power), Sustainability is a new trend to make money, get attention, or be recognized – that they really do not care about sustainability itself. When one says “whatever”, it isn’t sustainable because they stop thinking about it. “I like it whatever it is” brought us here.
☆
I have a video about this topic on Youtube. My basic understanding is there: now, I feel a generation gap within Sustainability. What is Sustainability for you? In a cultural context, when one says “I know Sashiko enough (to teach)” without proper language skill & understanding of common ground, is it really sustainable? Is Copying someone & making it theirs Sustainable as destroying the resources to learn from? There are a lot to think about – deep understanding Boro will give us some hints to go through.
☆
–
–
–
☆
ふと「あれ、俺、もしかしたら襤褸嫌いかも」と気がつきました（笑）配信では、「襤褸好きだよ」と話しているので、なんだその矛盾はと思われるかもしれませんが、「恵子さんの作る襤褸」が好きなだけで、他の襤褸は苦手…というか、嫌いかもしれません。最近「持続可能」について考えることが多く、記事を読む中で襤褸の写真も沢山見てきました。で、正直に自分と向き合った結果が今回の投稿です。皮肉ですが、貧困の中で生まれた襤褸が、今ではお金も注目も名声すらも運んできます。襤褸と刺し子は密接な関係にあり、好き嫌いで語るべきものではないのですが、ふと思ったことを正直に。また詳細は配信で語りますね。
☆
2022-06-05 21:08:39
もうだいぶ前からそうなんだろうなと思ってました
身内とか、知っている方が作ったものなら大丈夫ですが、誰が作ったか分からない襤褸は怖くて…。恵子さんが作るものは、楽しさが滲み出ているので、大好きです😌💕
So far for me Sustainability is using what I have to make what I need or want. More than accepting, I appreciate and enjoy the creation from my resources. I enjoy the creative “making” process. I find it makes my pleasure in the end product even better. It is a lifestyle for me. I love to recycle and repurpose.
襤褸になった過程がわかる(作った人もしくは使った人がわかる)なら好きと言うより大切にしたいなぁと思うかもしれませんが、やっぱり遠ざけてしまう。好きにはなれない。言霊と言うかその言葉の響きがどうも苦手。
知らない人が作ってそれが襤褸になったのは、見ても、うわぁと言う感じにはならない。上手い表現が出来ないけど、色々想像してしまって、うげってなる。
🪷
This is a really great topic. I have enjoyed reading the different things you have to say. My thought is that we have to teach the next generation to do better, to be better, and then so on. We need to use resources that are truly renewable, and we need to use less in general. Clothing is a great example. We can make a statement with what we wear but it shouldn’t just be a fashion statement. Most clothes are now synthetic
To me, sustainability is about recognizing how all things are connected, and we owe it to each other to do our best to tread lightly on the earth, and leave things better than we found them. With sashiko, I think this takes many forms— the stitching itself leaves the fabric stronger than we found it, and in strengthening the fabric we make it longer wearing. With materials, in my opinion it is better to use what you have that will work before buying new, though maybe this depends on how important it is to have the correct supplies. With the philosophy, it means observing, learning, seeking to understand not just technique but historical and cultural importance and context of the act. Sashiko means something different to me than it does to you, or to the people who created and used this method out of necessity. Seeking a sustainable understanding of Sashiko or similar traditions means to learn the stories and reasons of the form and its context, to hold that in my heart when I do the work or try to describe the basics of it to others, and to thereby keep it alive, to feed it as it feeds me.