As Sashiko becomes the trend, some exaggerate the word itself. By just looking up the word online, we can find so many “words & concepts” related to Sashiko – like, Recycle, Upcycle, Sustainability, Appreciation (to what we have), Mindfulness, Meditation… you name it. Unfortunately, some of the concepts are misleading about what Sashiko is for someone’s profit. However, at the same time, some of them are very true yet not “verbalized (introduced)” well in a process of Sashiko’s development. One example is the psychological benefit we can get from Sashiko (putting aside that Sashiko “was” a form of stitching for survival).
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My wife is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with Ph.D. She regularly encouraged me to go to the Graduate Program to be Licensed saying I am very talented in Counseling. Interestingly, what I share as my “ordinary” is somewhat eye-opening information to her. I say [don’t consider Sashiko as the “heroic medicine”] – it will not “cure” the issue. However,Sashiko may have something to keep us healthy like how Japanese diets may improve our health. I hope that my stories here become like “Japanese Food” for your healthy diet (although I may not be realizing it).
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As I want to support her, I try to learn “psychology“ as much as I can. Then, I found “Morita Therapy” as a treatment for mental illness in Japan. Its approach resonates with my understanding of Japanese, and I am actively learning the practice & mindset there. Sashiko is NOT a form of treatment or medicine – but I find a lot of similarities in Morita Therapy & Sashiko from the perspective of appreciating Japanese culture. If you are interested, I can elaborate on this story more later on. One principle is to stop “judging” if the illness itself is “bad”. So is Sashiko – your Sashiko will be there when you stop judging your stitches, and what I teach is how NOT to judge the outcome.
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刺し子とはまた別の注目のされ方というか、こちらは日本人の私でも触れるに少々勇気がいるというか、英語圏で日本語そのままで使われている言葉に「民藝」があります。私の勉強不足は否めないし、「刺し子は民藝なの？」という質問には「場合による」という返事で逃げ回ってきているのですが、重い腰を上げる時が来たのかもしれません。勉強せねば。
（一番の勉強方法は日本を回ることなんだよなぁ）。誰か民藝を語りたい人いたら是非、お話を伺わせて下さい！！
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#Sashiko #刺し子
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