A Phygital Life

Digital + Physical Balance

OK, so this is a little personal. I feel a transition underway although I’m not exactly sure what’s going to be on the other side. I’ve had my business, Molte Volte, for two years now, consulting to enable a circular economy, mostly with a focus on apparel, though I’ve been expanding beyond that. I usually spend most days working on my computer as many of us do now. Recently, well off and on for the last few years actually, I’ve been getting a very clear message from my body that I cannot spend every day staring at a computer screen. I’m very driven, so I try to do a lot, prove a lot, absorb a lot and create a lot, but I’m realizing I can no longer maintain this level of intensity.

Someone recently pointed out to me that the past decade is the first time in human history that so many of us have been glued to a digital screen for our livelihoods. We don’t know yet what that’s going to mean in the long run, especially for our eyes and our brains and our bodies, but I can tell you that my eyes and my brain are telling me that they don’t want to be in front of a screen all day every day. I cannot absorb and process so much information, it’s just too much.

This is tied too something else that has been clear to me for a long time, which is that I’d like to have a meaningful part of my work be about real physical objects and to be surrounded by those real physical objects. When I was working at EILEEN FISHER Renew I was in meetings most of the day, but I was also surrounded by people, clothes, bins, racks and many physical processes that I could absorb and dip into. This was extremely important to me, partially because I am more than my brain. I need to be able to touch things, move things, observe things and be with other people in the same space for camaraderie and shared work, etc. These past two years my work has been almost exclusively on my computer, and I miss the warehouse, the garments, the repairs, the physicality of it all.

This is the transition I’m talking about. I can see the direction I need to pivot towards, creating a more balanced experience between the physical and digital world. I’m not exactly sure yet how I want to do that or what will make the most sense for me. I’ve had many dreams about this idea over time; my most frequent one is to create a department store that only sells non-new items. Yes, a thrift or vintage store, but sorted and curated and shoppable by common household and individual needs like dishes, glassware, tables, sweaters, dresses, jewelry, etc. I’ve heard about a mall in Scandinavia that sells exclusively non-new items. I’d like to visit, but it’s also really fun knowing it exists because who’s to say it couldn’t exist here.

Something I always return to is beauty. Beautiful, well-made items hold my fascination and admiration. Whether that be a lamp, a piece of fabric, a jacket or a house. It is so easy to make the connection between pride of work and beautiful craftsmanship, and I appreciate being part of the history of each thing, knowing it was used before me and, hopefully, will be used when I’m done with it.

So, my dream would be to build a physical experience that stands for beauty and craftsmanship across the decades. Items could be 100 years old or 10 years old or made last year, but if they’re high-quality and built to last, then I have a respect for them, for those inanimate objects.

I was thinking about this today, and how we have stopped making so many quality things as a global economy. I reflected about the last decade, and the likelihood of seeing quality vintage clothing in thrift stores has dropped dramatically. Those same stores are now being basically overrun by fast fashion items that people wear a few times and get rid of. We are so primed today to just buy buy buy new things. Not to throw a stone- I certainly do that. I think we need to give people more and different experiences of buying things that are not new. The recent ThredUp report shows every year more and more people are buying secondhand, and the percent of people who look for secondhand first also continues to grow. The opportunity of having a more delightful experience discovering non-new items has always interested in me and seems like it would be well received by a growing number of people as well.

So, to leave it all in slightly muddy place, this is the transition or crossroads I find myself in. I want to keep doing the digital work that I value, that feels right right and like a good use of me and that I enjoy. And, I need to figure out how to balance it with some physical work that will encourage my obsession with beauty and also give my brain a rest from the ever present screens. I’m sure I’ll have to experiment and make some slightly scary decisions, but ultimately I want to find something that I can work on every day and learn to be persistent with, over time, so that it becomes a natural part of my career and life. (Visible mending is also very high on my list…)

Here are some inspirations for this post in no particular order

• A book I wrote about some months ago, Slow Productivity

• Hoffman’s Barn, a used furniture warehouse in Rhinebeck, New York

• This recent article about lifelong pursuits and persevering

• The idea of a reuse innovation center, an ecosystem of local businesses that supply and use materials from deconstructed buildings

• My pottery class (the satisfaction of making something beautiful, useful, durable)

If you made it this far, thanks. Do you have similar frustrations and ambitions? (Feel free to directly reply to this newsletter, it goes straight to my inbox!)

Circular Materials Cohort Closing This Week

If you are curious about Untangling Circularity’s Circular Materials Membership Cohort, learn more here, join our info session today at 12:45 ET (google link: meet.google.com/oze-aqqo-smh), express interest here.

Sign up closes Friday, April 4. If you are working in apparel and/or textiles, want to learn more about circular textiles and want to expand your circular economy community, this is for you!

Cynthia
cynthia@moltevolte.com
www.moltevolte.com
www.untanglingcircularity.com