THINGS AREN'T
ALWAYS WHAT
THEY SEEM.
This is to say that things are not always capable of maintaining their original physical form and purpose forever. These things are often thrown away when they no longer serve their intended purpose, when we've outgrown them, when there's an imperfection, a chip, a crack, a tear, a dent, when there's a missing piece.
THINGS CHANGE.
When the physical properties of a thing change dramatically, its purpose changes too. A thing breaks and becomes a broken thing. And that broken thing becomes trash, abandoned, unloved, destined for a life in the landfill. Usually. A broken thing may seem like trash but it doesn't have to be.
THINGS AREN'T
ALWAYS WHAT
THEY SEEM
BECAUSE
THINGS CHANGE.
Letting go of the expectation that things should always be exactly what they used to be and serve the same purpose forever opens the possibility for a broken thing in its changed state to become something entirely new. With an attention towards objects, not as they were intended to be but as they are now, it is possible to dream up a different reality for the discarded, to decide that decay and destruction deserve to be displayed.
BEAUTY
THERE IS
IN THE
BROKEN
Being broken is not necessarily bad. If brokenness is simply a quality of things that have changed then perhaps brokenness can bring forth new beginnings.
To see things as they are through the lens of what they could be is to live in a wonderful, wonder-full world. It is a hopeful reminder that it is possible to break free, to begin again, to start over, to build something new from what remains of the old, to envision a new life.
liberated from expectation
and therefore full
That which is broken is
OF possibility
BREAKinG
FREE
Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton (yep we're going there) sang it best in the iconic "High School Musical" ballad "Breaking Free." They acknowledge the trapped feeling that ensues when faced with the expectations that result from internalizing an external pressure to fill a certain role, "You know the world can see us in a way that's different than who we are." When the dissonance caused by conflicting external perception and internal potential becomes too overwhelming, a breaking point is reached.
The Make Or Break Moment
But why not have both? It is possible to break and then make the best of it, to grow, to be resilient, to transform. The act of breaking free allows for the defiance of expectation and convention in favor of pursuing the potential within and possibly fulfilling a higher purpose. Breaking free allows us the space to break out of our comfort zone, to experience a breakthrough, "to be all that we can be." This is the promise of hope.
TRANSFORMING
TOYS + TRINKETS + TRASH
INTO WEARABLE TREASURES
"One can be S E R I O U S
about the F R I V O L O U S ,
F R I V O L O U S about
the S E R O U S ."
-Susan Sontag, Notes On "Camp"