Relearning the Lesson of Secondhand Clothing

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Mark Zeiger

Each of us has our own best learning style, through which we acquire skills and knowledge. Some learn well through reading, others through observation, or by teaching. Mine seems to be through repeated experience.

For instance, you’d think that by now I would know that when I need good, quality clothing, the first place I look should is a thrift store.

favorite jacket

“Now we’re the best of friends!” A boy and his favorite jacket.

Continue reading →

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More on Thinking Little

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Mark Zeiger

Previously, I wrote about the Wendell Berry’s concept of Thinking Little. Along these same lines, an observation in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible (paid link) (your local independent bookstore, or virtually any garage sale you come across will have a copy) has always impressed me. I can no longer quote the specific passage, but she observed that in the Belgian Congo, the major upheavals in their political landscape had almost no bearing on the day-to-day lives of most of the citizens. Concerned with making their own living from their modest gardens and the surrounding forest, their lives remained much the same no matter what the bigwigs did.

When I read this, I thought again of the concept of Thinking Little, living below the radar, of making one’s self and one’s business too small to be of consequence to The Powers That Be. Continue reading →

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