Darning egg
I talk about my sustainability practice with my fellow humans very often. It feels so important to create spaces for such conversations. These conversations allow me to see that so many fellow humans also try to live more sustainably in different ways, learn from them and tell more about myself so they can help me on my journey. I enjoy having these conversations with my partner's stepmother. She is my dream woman. An elderly Danish woman with a wonderful and inspiring life story. When she and her husband were visiting us, I told her about my attempts to repair various clothes I live with. When I came to see her, she gave me a wooden darning egg as a gift. She received this egg from her first mother-in-law who was French. So this object has a long story, and I'm very glad that it's not new. Apart from being useful (it is used to repair things such as socks), the darning egg is also very beautiful and pleasant to hold.
This situation made me think about various empowering factors that play important roles in living a more sustainable lifestyle. In my academic field (degrowth), we so often highlight what constrains transformations of systems and lifestyles. Of course this is essential, as we need to understand constraints deeply, understand why they exist and how to transform or remove them. But I do feel that in doing this, we forget to pay attention to what empowers transformations, what actually helps us on our journeys. We don't pay enough attention to what requires reproduction, what is beautiful and gives hope.