Inspired by the discussions and breakout sessions at ApparelCamp, board member Sarah Murray wrote a Note Poem that captures the energy and essence of the day.
HAPPY APPARELCAMP!
Note Poetry from ApparelCamp dialogues September 27, 2025
The rag bagger asks: how long is a piece of string? There is no way to know and not knowing is detrimental, yet we must sit with the discomfort.
We want what is easy and nostalgic. Our guilt leads to a passion for starting. Is it perfectly correct? No. It is business-as-usual and simply slows the inevitable. When styles and the world change, we push the needle faster, further, until pop!
It’s time to pause, to simplify, to become informed, to get involved, to take things a step further.
Let this sit with you….
Let your paradigm shift as your feet ground, your back strengthens, your head clears, and your heart warms.
Dig into the grass’ roots as we aren’t out of the woods yet. We need a gateway, a portal, a doorway to access the world. We need to consider whether the worms will like it? The trendsetter? Mother earth? We have to keep talking, dealing with the glut, and asking are we moving in the right direction?
As we trace this hard border, we remember the law of two feet. We can move and find our groove, our people, our inspiration. Let’s agree to be friends as we work through this challenge together.
So, we evoke our love of this ecosystem of makers and marketers who care and appreciate this place. It may be a wish cycle in this messy system. Where our feelings are standardized and mandatory, designed to make everything look good. But it is a tiny pocket into our world. A world that is different now, that is overturned and blown up, yet beautiful.
It is up to us. We must rely on each other to question with curiosity, to continue our work, to figure it out, to extend life. It’s time to come home to our ideas, our hearts, and our hands. It’s time to do something weird, to thread the needle, to take a quantum leap, to be fired up. To rethink our first question and trust.