A cardamom and lilac scented candle is burning on my table, I am listening to my favourite playlist and I think about my future. Six months of this astonishing experience are already gone and soon I will make new choices. This has never been easy for me, to be honest it scares me. But after all, aren't choices that make us adults?
A couple of weeks ago I joined the mid
term training and, among the other things, they asked us to imagine
ourself in three years and draw our ideas. Which results will we
achieve? Which will be our new goals?
I drew a flat (because I
really want to achieve independence) and a dachshund (no kidding, I
love them) but the very first thing that came to my mind was:
"sustainability", so I added this word too. I like to
think that in 2025 my life will be more conscious, closer to nature.
About this: my mother teaching me to sew is definitely one of the goals for the next years. I am 100% sure it will be difficult for me but I really wanna learn to do something so cool with my own hands. Every day in the shop I see so many clothes with a button missing or with a broken zip but still in good conditions; it would be a very simple but important job to repair them.
I am not a creative person but in the
last months I realized I am really curious about upcycling (in other
words: creative recycling), especially in the fashion field. In January I saw a short Italian documentary called "Stracci"*.
It talks about the wool upcycling experience of Prato, in Tuscany
where the wool is recycled since 150 years by expert hands. Every day
an incredible amount of clothes arrives there from all over Europe.
The first step is to separate the clothes for the second hand market from those for recycling. Of the latter the wool ones are selected and the zip and the labels are removed. They also divide the clothes by colour,
this allows to do new fabric without dyeing, saving a lot of
pollution.
It was touching to see a knowledge so old becoming so
actual and necessary, because it saves tons and
tons of textile waste from the landfills every year. I would love to know better this
reality and I would also love to deepen my knowledge about examples
of circular economy in Italy.
To know more: https://www.straccidoc.it/stracci-un-viaggio-nella-sostenibilita-della-moda/
On another hand I am very curious about
the international cooperation world too. I got my bachelor degree in
"International cooperation and development" in December
2020 but because of Covid I didn't do any internship yet. In January
the call for a very interesting project with the Italian NGO "Mani
tese" expired so I tried my luck and I applied for it. They have
a lot of projects around the world regarding fashion sustainability
but also agroecology and rural development. I will know more in the
next months.
Speaking about international cooperation, in the last
weeks Zsuzsa allowed me to join some online meeting with other NGOs. I
think this is a good opportunity for me, to see if I am
interested in EU projects. It is too soon to say something about it,
but I am grateful because this can help me understand what I like
and what I don't.
I am full of inputs but also disoriented. I would like to study, but also to work and be independent. Sometimes I feel like I am "late", but other times I just choose to not think about it. It is hard to accept that I do not have control over my future but what I know is that every experience I made led me where I am now. My path has never been regular, but made me grow. When I was 19 I felt the urge to travel around the world and now I feel like I need more time. More time for the pub quizzes, for the boardgame nights, for the dinners and the walks around with my new friends. More time to think about my future and about my carnival costume. Time for planning new trips** and for friend's birthdays. More time for life to help me understand how to take the next step: choosing who I want to be.
*Rags
**Pécs I am coming!
