the wearness

Katharina Hogenkamp, a German journalist and translator living in London, writes about fashion and sustainability in Europe and around the world. In her new column for the wearness, she reflects on the challenges of the throw-away society, the power of the community, and how to inspire other women for change.

The new column is as much a review of the past year as it is an outlook on what is to come.
Do you have resolutions for the new year? Or, to put it another way: How did you say goodbye to 2019 and celebrate the start of a whole new decade?
Like you, I am convinced that 2020 will bring a number of changes. You may well ask yourself: isn't that always the case? Of course it is! Life is an eternal river in which wishes and plans, memories and experiences, joy and sorrow determine the direction. And it's basically quite simple - forward and preferably together.
Reflection and development are my resolutions for 2020, which is why I recently quit my former dream job including my apartment in London after several years. I am proud to have fulfilled my dream and grateful for the experiences and people I was able to gather and meet during my journey. But there are also moments in life when you have to realize that it is time for a break.

To live truly sustainable is a challenge, externally as well as internally, morally as well as ethically.

That's why I will concentrate more on what makes me happy in the future. In a nutshell: the really important things. These include, for example, taking time. Time to simply take a deep breath. Time to revive old friendships. Time to see the family. Time to eat a piece of cake with the grandparents in peace and to go for a walk, to travel, to cook, to discover and taste.
The only thing that has never been and will never be sustainable on this planet is time. On the contrary, more often in fact, it runs away from us. That's why it's even more important to use it wisely, no matter whether as an activist next to Great Thunberg and Co. or sitting relaxed at the breakfast table with the family. Gratitude is the greatest virtue and the key to empathy, which leads to change. And change, that's what we all long for, given the social situation, isn't it?
I would like to wish all readers a happy and prosperous new year 2020!