The paradigm I'm working in is that everything in our physical world is part of natural/physical/biological intelligence.
That includes your clothing.
In the United States, where I live, the weekend following Thanksgiving is when all kinds of stuff is discounted heavily. People who've spent days preparing the Thanksgiving party then chase deals. Hours-long line-ups (some last all night long) and intensely crowded shopping conditions are the norm on "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving. Sometimes violence erupts.
The retailers offering these discounts claim we'll save money if we shop at these sales. And... my time, energy, and calm are all very valuable to me. In fact, the state of my time, energy, and mood impacts my earning power. So I never participate in this shopping ritual. I just don't think the potential dollars saved are worth my time, energy, and stress.
Then there are the people who participate from far away—they usually live in neighborhoods middle class buyers don't often visit, and they're the ones who pay for our discounts.
They're the ones who, for instance, make clothing for less and less pay. The clothing that sits on our skin all day... and has been touched with hands of fear (will I be able to feed my loved ones?) and anger (this is unfair!) and shame (is working for peanuts so that richer people can dress themselves cheap all I'm good for?)
I embrace the truth held in the fear, anger, and shame of people who've been backed into a corner.
And what about us, the people who wear these clothes? Natural/physical/biological intelligence does not discriminate. It accepts and reflects all thoughts, all human choices. While we may not often give thought to the suffering of cotton or polyester, these materials do have intelligence, as does all of physical reality. I'm certain that cloth would prefer not to be caught up in a web of exploitation either. And—if your clothing has been made by a person who's exploited, then you are bringing the energies of exploitation home to your own skin every time you wear that clothing.
One of the world's few fair trade clothing retailers, Fair Indigo, has here an insider analysis about the reality of who pays for clothing sent to you via free shipping: http://fairindigo.blogspot.com/2011/11/high-price-of-free-shipping.html
p.s. Let's consider "the hypocrisy factor"—here I am inviting you to do something. So what do I do?... I am a fairly low-income person at this point in my life. As a result, I buy about 85 to 90 percent of my clothes secondhand, and anything new I buy, I expect to last at least a decade. So my clothes are mostly one step removed from what was probably unfair beginnings. The money I spend on my secondhand clothes goes to support a local hospice. My eventual aim is to make enough money that I can afford to buy all my clothing, in fact, all my "stuff," newly made at fair trade prices. I'm working on it!
That includes your clothing.
In the United States, where I live, the weekend following Thanksgiving is when all kinds of stuff is discounted heavily. People who've spent days preparing the Thanksgiving party then chase deals. Hours-long line-ups (some last all night long) and intensely crowded shopping conditions are the norm on "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving. Sometimes violence erupts.
The retailers offering these discounts claim we'll save money if we shop at these sales. And... my time, energy, and calm are all very valuable to me. In fact, the state of my time, energy, and mood impacts my earning power. So I never participate in this shopping ritual. I just don't think the potential dollars saved are worth my time, energy, and stress.
Then there are the people who participate from far away—they usually live in neighborhoods middle class buyers don't often visit, and they're the ones who pay for our discounts.
They're the ones who, for instance, make clothing for less and less pay. The clothing that sits on our skin all day... and has been touched with hands of fear (will I be able to feed my loved ones?) and anger (this is unfair!) and shame (is working for peanuts so that richer people can dress themselves cheap all I'm good for?)
I embrace the truth held in the fear, anger, and shame of people who've been backed into a corner.
And what about us, the people who wear these clothes? Natural/physical/biological intelligence does not discriminate. It accepts and reflects all thoughts, all human choices. While we may not often give thought to the suffering of cotton or polyester, these materials do have intelligence, as does all of physical reality. I'm certain that cloth would prefer not to be caught up in a web of exploitation either. And—if your clothing has been made by a person who's exploited, then you are bringing the energies of exploitation home to your own skin every time you wear that clothing.
I invite you to stop training your body to accept exploitation. Avoid putting clothing filled with exploitative patterns on your skin.
One of the world's few fair trade clothing retailers, Fair Indigo, has here an insider analysis about the reality of who pays for clothing sent to you via free shipping: http://fairindigo.blogspot.com/2011/11/high-price-of-free-shipping.html
p.s. Let's consider "the hypocrisy factor"—here I am inviting you to do something. So what do I do?... I am a fairly low-income person at this point in my life. As a result, I buy about 85 to 90 percent of my clothes secondhand, and anything new I buy, I expect to last at least a decade. So my clothes are mostly one step removed from what was probably unfair beginnings. The money I spend on my secondhand clothes goes to support a local hospice. My eventual aim is to make enough money that I can afford to buy all my clothing, in fact, all my "stuff," newly made at fair trade prices. I'm working on it!
