Music credit: One Time - Jeremy BlackToday, I decided to inspire myself to get back into the dating game by refreshing my wardrobe at the Second-Hand Store (yes, called the Second-Hand Store). I recently learned that new items go out Monday so I decided to check out the action for myself. Sometimes trying to do the normal, right thing as a person trying to get through life just feels hard. We would all jump to save a child who we saw being abused. We’d never pour chemicals into our neighbor’s well. But when things are happening millions of miles away, sometimes we just can’t deal. And so we turn away.. Because it’s hard to account for all the suffering in the world and just get through life. But ultimately, I’ve found that if we do this, it starts to build up. We feel anxious. We feel defeated. We say things like, “you’re a better person than me.” “You’re such a good person,” instead of thinking about these small actions as just the normal thing to do, the thing that anyone of us would do if that kid or that water was right next to us. There’s another choice. We can do something. A simple thing that’s the right thing to do. I sometimes feel uncomfortable shopping because of what I’ve learned about child labor and the impact of the fashion industry on climate and the environment. Typically, I just close my eyes and say, “whatever,” but when push comes to shove, I don’t think all that shoving down ultimately serves me. Would I ask a child to sew my clothes until their fingers bled so I could get a deal? Would I trade clean air and clean water for a cheap shirt. Probably not. Plus, all of the images on instagram of the trash piles of clothes just make me uneasy. I’d order used clothes online, but then we run into all the issues with shipping. And frankly, I don’t think it’s great karma destroying the planet and exploiting children so I can try to build a family. “The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 160 million children were in child labor globally as of 2020, with many involved in global supply chains, including fashion.”Some more on this:According to the Carbon Literacy Project: “The fashion industry is the second-largest industrial polluter, accounting for 10% of global pollution, ranking higher than emissions from air travel!”https://carbonliteracy.com/fast-fashions-carbon-footprint/According to UNICEF: “UNICEF estimates that more than 100 million children are affected in the garment and footwear supply chain globally – as workers, children of working parents, and community members near farms and factories.”https://www.unicef.org/reports/childrens-rights-in-garment-and-footwear-supply-chain-2020And here’s the cool Second-Hand store where I got my loot! https://maps.app.goo.gl/YHid8sijXKsj5ifB7At the end of the day, knowing I’d saved kids and the planet from harm felt really really great. I felt clean inside.I just love the system of this store. Monday is the most expensive day, and then as people choose the best items, the prices get less and less expensive until the weekend (the cheapest day). They even have scales where you can weigh everything you selected to see where you’re at before you check out. And here’s the real shocker! All this only cost 97.53 Euros! And Monday is the most expensive day of the week. Everyone in the store was so sweet, from the staff to the shoppers. It was a really joyful atmosphere and I had so many magical fun moments with people I interacted with there. What does this have to do with dating? Whether we like it or not, everything’s connected. I can try to have one narrow goal and only focus on that, but if I ignore all the questions and challenges that come up around that goal, I’ve lost the path. And when we give love in everything we do, we get love back. And joy. Maybe they’re the same thing. In any event, I had a truly wonderful day of connection and delight. I’m moving towards something. And I’m here. In the now.
