I was walking through Pasar Kodok, better known to Westerners as the Frog Market in Bali, the other day, one of the biggest second-hand markets I’ve ever seen. Macklemore came out on stage with a full length fur coat and sang his hit, Thrift Shop and it seems secondhand shopping became 'cool' again. Finally a pop-star singing about Re-using rather than continuing the consumerism of the fashion culture worldwide. Digging through barrels of old clothes may not be for every shopper, certainly not the ones allergic to dust or prone to heat stroke, but for the thrill-seekers there may be a slight adrenaline rush when you find that precious gem.
Ah, the rush of up-cycling! Screams my inner bohemian.
As I’m routing through bins of old motorcycle jackets, denim jeans, and flower printed dresses, I found my self slightly swooning over these well-loved pieces. Especially the leather, I held in my hands a leather jacket from 1954 and it still had the sexy leather smell and the shine of many memories well-lived. While my drive to design and create is often in conflict with my ethical conscience “Do we really need more STUFF on this planet?” – I had a righteous moment at this market. Leather IS forever! I’m holding in my hands this 61-year-old jacket that is still as good, or better in my opinion, as the day it was created. . . I see a young woman holding my pieces in her hands in some eccentric secondhand market in the future, wondering what fantastic memories took place within those seams.
This is the reason I've created Carpe Noctem with the highest quality lambskin leather, even though many business consultants have tried to convince me to use cheaper leather.
I don’t want you to buy into the insatiable culture of consumerism that screams, “More, More, More!” Instead,
I want you to have these pants, this jacket, or these gloves, forever. They will probably outlive you, and end up in a place like Bali at the Frog Market, the same way a message in a bottle washes up on the shore it was meant to all along.
Following the lunar calendar, Shivaratri falls on the darkest night of the month. This is when moon is barely visible to our naked eyes. The Shivaratri festival, the Night of Shiva, celebrated in Bali on January 14 this year, is a reminder of this fact: there can be no light without darkness. Shiva, usually, and quoted mistakenly, portrayed as the god of destruction, is actually the Recycler. Shiva is the symbol of creation, new beginning, and the proclamation of the coming dawn.
-Celebrating Darkness by Anand Krishna
Our society focuses on celebrating the light more often than embracing the darkness. God is likened to light and deemed the Lucent, the Luminous, and the Radiant One. Darkness, on the other hand, has always been associated with devil, with negative power.
Yet, darkness and light are inseparable dualistic fractals of the big picture - our universe. They are balanced both in the outside world, and in the deepest seeds of our being.
The Balinese worship darkness equally as they do light because they understand that the two are complementary. Without the opposing force of darkness, we would have no awareness of the brilliance of light. Darkness is the void in which light manifests. Darkness is the rich canvass on which the flecks of light are so beautifully painted. The Balinese have been celebrating darkness for ages, for as far back in time as their history is. Darkness, to the Balinese, is not something to be dreaded.
As I ride through the busy streets of Bali towards the fiery red Bali sun setting over the sea, I contemplate how much this island reminds me of returning to the origin daily. . .
Bali has constantly sent me reminders to return to MY source. These messages from the universe often come in the form of tough lessons. Be patient with people trying to understand you, and take the time to try to understand them. Be grateful for the present moment and your health, because things can change in an instant. Be humble, because when you think you know it all, the universe will show you otherwise. Most importantly, be forgiving; to yourself, to others, to the past. At our core we are all the same, we are just doing the best we can with what we are given.
Bali has a way of testing your alignment between your beliefs and your actions. Every day encounters test you to redefine what it is that you are really made of. Do you define yourself by your possessions? If those possessions were to disappear, what do you have left? A smile, a laugh, a hope? It is in our nature to survive, so we create new ways of moving through whatever obstacle may be in our path. When the obstacles are removed, we use that same creative potential to create things that draw attention to the beauty of life. We thrive! This balance between enjoying the beauty and weathering the storm is constant throughout our lives, and what is at our core is that ability to transcend through both extreme suffering and ecstatic bliss.
I hope that as you wear Carpe Noctem you feel empowered to take on whatever this crazy experience called life throws at you. That you feel connected to the organic materials like a second skin which will protect you through your full throttle adventures. And that you remember that at your origin, you are one powerful laser beam of light!
