Nicole

One night we sprung for a special dinner out and landed at a restaurant called Nepenthe, which embodies everything you’d expect from Big Sur, traditionally a haven for those who think and live differently-artists, poets, those seeking expressive lives in community with like-minded people. It’s a sturdy black linen dress that drapes for life and movement, then tells a subtly feminine story with bishop sleeves and gathered detailing. The invitation to share a piece like the Sabine dress, from the small, conscious, independent clothier Sugar Candy Mountain was enough to pique my interest. ”, I do relish the idea of sharing another independent designer’s work, particularly one who regularly visits and oversees production sites, which are local to her in Los Angeles, and who cares about sustainability factors in both production and shipping.

When Ann Elizabeth Mekala of @dearhyssop shared her year-long shopping fast commitment, which she titled Twelve Months of Gratitude, and invited those interested, all things seemed to coalesce to encourage me to participate. This comfort allows me to ignore the things lurking beneath the surface, things that need to be addressed. If I feel the urge to buy something new, I look to this focused list of who I’d like to be and ask myself where I’m falling short and how that is resulting in seeking comfort by purchasing a thing that will make me feel how I want to feel. This whole fast is really an extension of the daily gratitude I’ve been practicing over the last year, and I find they go hand in hand.

I have participated somewhat covertly in a year’s worth of Lee Vosburgh’s quarterly wardrobe challenge, the 10×10. One year without clothes shopping, except for that one time I bought a second-hand sweater, etc., a few weeks ago…that might happen again in the future. Much like the misguided rich, handsome man in the romantic comedy where the less handsome, but lovable underdog gets the girl in the end, I love the IDEA of the girl, but I’m not sure I love the actual girl. I have three me-made pieces, one second-hand piece (though my closet is truly about half second hand/vintage at this point), four ethically produced pieces, and two items I bought new, but whose manufacturing origins are unknown or muddy at best.

We were talking about politics, conservative Christian culture, especially behind Orange County’s “red curtain”, and the UN report on climate change. The word we’ve been given shows us a who consistently sheds his own power and leans on his Father (Philippians 2:7), raises the voices of the disenfranchised (Luke 10, Matthew 20:16), and challenges the hypocrisy of authority (Mark 7), to the point of his own death. When Paul says “submit to authority” (Romans 13, a verse that was, incidentally, often quoted and misused by Nazi authorities, who were fought against bravely by many Christian martyrs, including Detrich Bonhoeffer), and Jesus says “render to Caesar” (Matthew 22:21) are we talking about tacit submission, or is he warning against grasping at our own wealth and our own political position of power? This is the expression of one woman’s desperate heart, one woman who is grappling with the reality that this is her home, but it’s not her home, with the truth that she has no one speaking on her behalf here in this world, neither red nor blue, so if you must comment, comment kindly.