#01 A chorus of sewing machines

We did a team project in work where we each had to come up with a photo a day for 365 days and share it through a Google Plus page. I finished the project recently and was thinking what to do next with the photos. And then the idea developed (no pun intended!) that I could take a handful of these photos (say, 20) and write blog posts in response to them; taking the photo as the jumping off point for the words. 

So, this is the first in this series of posts. Explanation made, now words to follow:

It was a warehouse full of second-hand cast-off items, all for sale. There was a row of rusty old sewing machines – and that set me off looking for jokes. What do you call a collection of sewing machines? A chorus of sewing machines (Singer machines – do you get it? No, oh well, never mind!)

Looking around the warehouse, we came across all sorts of discarded items – saved from the landfill. And by the time we reached the last room I was thinking about this endless consumerism, this quest for new things. Each of these sewing machines making bundles and bundles of clothes, now either rotting in the ground, or on rails in charity shops.

On a global scale we are making more and more things. Capitalism has helped us to understand productivity, to understand constant growth as a key feature of a thriving economy. And we end up with what… more and more stuff! What do we do with it, where does it all go?

Places like the one in the photograph are an attempt to reclaim, to recycle. How can we all do more of that in our lives? In all aspects of our lives? We could set out to make a less negative impact on the world, make sure that we are preserving, nurturing, and re-using.

Ecologists talk of our carbon footprint. What about a broader footprint in the world? Can we minimise the negative footprint and maximise the positive impact we have on the world – those moments where our interaction with another leaves the world a better place than it otherwise would have been. Moments of compassion.

Also published on Medium.