Artist and sewing pattern maker Sonya Philip, from San Francisco in the United States, said she is equal parts stressed and relaxed at this time of global pandemic.
‘’I have always had homebody tendencies so it is not a struggle to stay home but on the other hand, I miss not having coffee with friends. There is also sadness seeing visits and plans, and teaching being cancelled and crossed off the calendar.“
‘’We are making do with what we have, being thankful for what we do have, rather than always thinking we need to have everything at our fingertips.” Click on the arrow to listen to our conversation. Read the notes below, or visit Sonya’s 100 Acts of Sewing website for more information. See other ARISING from Distruption stories here
What Sonya Philip said:
“I’m equal parts stressed and relaxed. The news (about coronavirus) and the lack of response in the US is stressful. I have always had homebody tendencies so it is not a struggle to stay home but on the other hand, I miss not having coffee with friends. There is also sadness seeing visits and plans, and teaching being cancelled and crossed off the calendar.“
Sonya designs sewing patterns and was in the process of moving her business outside the home, by leasing a commercial space for a studio, office and classroom.
”Now with the shelter-in-place, stay-at-home orders coming into enforcement, those plans are on hold. It is an exercise in being flexible, accepting the disappointment. I can’t second-guess things. I was hoping for an April 1 opening but that didn’t happen so we will see.
“I am still shipping patterns out – but there is a drop in wholesale sales as shops have closed their doors. We need to help small businesses weather this. We need to look around our streets and consider the businesses we want to see existing after this and try and support them. We need to be shopping local and supporting online stores.”
‘’We are making do with what we have, being thankful for what we do have, rather than always thinking we need to have everything at our fingertips. I’ve always been someone who makes things. I haven’t been sewing but I am mending a lot more. What time I did have before, I would not spend mending. Now because it seems that starting any new project is so daunting, I’m mending socks. It is soothing, a small bite-sized thing that I can accomplish.
‘’Our family was trying to adopt a lot of zero-waste goals but that has become harder. We had identified we could shift away from packaged to bulk foods, but now bulk bins are closed so we are finding we are using more packaged things because that is what is available. We had a community-supported-agriculture veg box subscription before, and that has been an incredible lifeline. They have been using their contacts at farmers market and now we can order tofu and cheese as well. They were looking for more subscribers before but now they have a waiting list because it is all filled up. Everyone has been baking breads so I’ve been ordering flour from small mills, supporting small grain farmers, because larger companies are back-ordered.
“Some days are better than others. I’m used to working from home so there is not a big mindset shift. I try to get up and get dressed, and make the bed. It is a daily struggle to get my teenager out of bed before noon (he did today). My hat is off to all people parenting small children right now. Thinking back on what I would have done – it would be chaos. We are pretty easy going, my husband makes us coffee and takes the dogs out for a walk. He goes into his room and starts his day. I start my day. We think about what is for dinner. My new hobby is shopping for food online – I am trying not to over order, or forget what I’ve ordered.
“Yesterday was a beautiful day out in the garden. We are fortunate to live in the city (San Francisco) and have a yard. It is nice to get outside in the sunshine, clipping overgrown things, weeding and repotting. It has been nice to have that outlet, getting outside with nature. I have been baking – trying my hand at bread baking. I am at the tail-end of writing a book which will be out in 2021. After I handed in the manuscript in October, I decided to do something completely different and took a bread baguette making class. Then that was on hold when I did the second draft. It is nice to be exploring bread-making again.
Tips:
A musician was telling me about recognizing the importance of embracing fallow periods. They are not negative but necessary. We live in a world, exacerbated by living digitally, when we see what other people doing, this feeds into thoughts of why doesn’t my house look like that, or my children behave in a certain way … There is so much written about the cult of being busy, of busyness being seen as some marker to success. I am totally fine to come back into myself, like a snail, go into your shell and recover, seek solace and regeneration. We are dealing with something that we have absolutely nothing to compare with, no preparation for the scope of this, with numbers increasing from week to week boggling the mind, and for it to be spanning the globe. Even if it is not affecting you personally, the unknowns and fear of the future can weigh down on you. To carry on as normal, to be inspired and creative, can be so much pressure. It is fine to take a break, to not feel like we have to be making and producing things. We have permission to recognize that everyone is going through things right now. We can take a step back, to grieve and be sad. It is incredibly hard if you are financially or emotionally having to support people, talking with kids, having difficult conversations. This is a demarcating line in our lives right now. How is it going to change? We don’t know, nobody knows. Making art and crafts can help take your mind off things. It is one of those things, if you feel compulsion because it is quieting that noise in your head, then do it. Taking a step back from 24-hour news and channeling anxiety into some craft can be meditative and therapeutic.
Changes:
Sonya hopes that we are starting to appreciate that we are all in this together. “It is not about just your own piece of the pie. We are thinking in a more collective and collaborative way. Society only works if we are supporting each other. We are going to see impacts – people not having work or steady income and we need to have a more expansive and compassionate view on that. Not just thinking how can I make the most money or succeed? We may see something akin to post-depression times in the US with the WPA (Works Progress Administration), when people were put to work on street murals, and making something meaningful. We have to remain positive.