July 12, 2021 at 01:51PM

The human is uncertain. With our brain, we can (pretend to) be anyone. We can smile in the screaming pain. We can (fake) cry for the profit. The Internet made our society more difficult for those who are innocently pure, because if one cannot distinguish “fake” as fake, then it can be a very confusing place. 

Therefore, I enjoy Sashiko. The stitches never fake. Well, in the rhythmical stitching for hours upon hours, one cannot keep faking on stitching. As a result, the stitches tell all the stories. I can tell who is NOT stitching while talking about Sashiko. I can tell why they stitch by looking at stitches. Stitches tells more than the words – therefore, it is very important to verbalize it in words. And I believe, you have your own “stitches” in the same context.

When one stitches being mindful of the process, the stitches become who they are. Therefore, I often say (in Japanese), there are no evil people in the Sashiko we practice. If one is so evil, the result becomes toxic even for themselves… I am not saying all the people in Sashiko are angels. There are… umm, many strange/interesting people there, including myself, but all of them are very… human-like (I won’t define if it is good or bad…but I like the people who actually stitch Sashiko). Sashiko isn’t only about “stitching” for upcycling something. It is a good practice to talk to oneself – like me talking to myself that I do not know so well.

運針をお教えする際、「針目(が揃っているかどうか)は気にしないで」とお伝えして始めます。勿論、揃っている針目が綺麗ですが、普通に運針を続ければ、なんだかんだで意識しなくても揃ってきます。というか、逆に意識して常に針目を揃えてると疲れちゃう。勿論、針目を揃えることはとても大切な目標の一つですが、そこだけに意識を集中して欲しくはないなと思うのです。そもそもですが、「揃ってる」という言葉そのものが、各々の頭の中で微妙に違います。僕が思い描く揃った針目と、恵子さんが思い描く針目は微妙に違います。母子でもそんなもん。だからこそ、針目には人が出てきて、それを拝見するのが何よりも楽しんだなぁと。運針、楽しいですよ〜。

#Sashiko #JapaneseSashiko #Unshin #刺し子 #運針


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