If this delicate beauty disappears, will it be YOUR fault?

   

If this delicate beauty disappears, will it be YOUR fault?

This chrysanthemum is one of nature’s gifts. Delicate, beautiful, colorful, strong yet gentle. We call it “Nature’s Fingers.”

In China, the origin country, it is renowned as one of the Four Gentlemen:

“The four most important flowers in Chinese culture are the plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, which are collectively known as the Four Gentlemen or Four Noble Ones: 

• Plum blossom: Represents winter and symbolizes noble and modest qualities 

• Orchid: Represents spring 

• Bamboo: Represents summer 

• Chrysanthemum: Represents autumn and symbolizes endurance and vitality 

These flowers are often depicted in Chinese art, especially in bird-and-flower paintings and ink wash paintings. They are also a popular motif in traditional Chinese arts like textiles, porcelain, lacquerware, and wood carving. 

The Four Gentlemen are a symbol of traditional Chinese virtues like uprightness, purity, humility, and perseverance. The plants are thought to have natural characteristics that are similar to human virtues.” (source)

Endurance and vitality- we all need that. More so than ever. So shouldn’t this flower be part of your life?

Chinese tradition has it that on “double 9” (9/9) families should go to the mountain and watch the chrysanthemum bloom, which will give them strength to face all the world’s ills successfully.

Wouldn’t you want that?

IF you don’t f**k it up, maybe we will continue to be blessed with its unique beauty.  (that is why we chose this flower as one of our main embroideries in our plant dye collection)

Who, me? What am I doing to cause this beauty to disappear?

Well, what is your answer to these questions?

• How many polyester garments do you own?

• How full is your closet?

• Do you buy stuff because it’s cute or cheap or both?

• How many times do you wear your garments on average?

• For how many different occasions can you wear your typical garment? How many do you?

• What do you do with the stuff you don’t want to wear anymore?

And more about your lifestyle:

• On average, how many full-size garbage bags do you fill per week?

• What percentage of your weekly diet is packaged—in boxes, bags, cans?

• What percentage of your food preparation comes from the microwave or automatic oven?

• What percentage of your food purchases are fresh? (meat, fish, vegetables, fruit—not including prepared items like peeled garlic, cut fruit etc.)?

• What percentage of your kitchenware and dishware are disposable or plastic?

• Do you always use a dishwasher? What percentage of the time do you hand wash?

Wait- so what’s the problem? How am I harming nature? I am not cutting down flowers or trees.

Let’s just talk about the main topics:

1. WASTE- We all have seen the numbers on clothing as a major waste component. See our blog article for more.

2. OVERCONSUMPTION, OVERPRODUCTION- Which is a cause of the incredible amount of waste.

3. TOO MUCH CLOTHING- same

4. INCREASED USE OF ENERGY, NATURAL AND PHYSICAL- Every garment requires energy to produce (material and construction), ship and deliver. More garments=more energy used.

5. NONCOMPOSTABLE OR TOXIC RESIDUE- Polyester and oil-based apparel and other tools cannot decompose for 200 years. Toxic dyestuffs will remain toxic dyestuffs, In your laundry water and in their final resting place.

6. MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF CONTAINERS FROM PREPARED FOOD IN TRASH AND LANDFILLS

There’s more. But check yourself from the list above and feel guilty. 

WAIT- There are still lots of flowers and trees around. So what difference is all of the above bullsh*t making?  QUESTION: If you could come back 50 years from now and see your children’s and grandchildren’s world, would you bet on that the above makes little or no difference?

It will. So what should you do?

One thing that is NOT an answer is to buy only secondhand clothing. OVERCONSUMPTION IS OVERCONSUMPTION. Buying only secondhand clothing is a stay of execution, not a reprieve. Sooner or later, those garments will end up in the shit pile.

What can I do to reverse this trend, on my end?

1. Buy less, buy better. Say no to the cheaper the better mentality.

2. Buy clothing that is multifunctional and can be worn on many occasions.

3. QUALITY, quality, quality. Leads to longer life.

4. Don’t use a goddamned dryer—it ruins your clothes, pollutes the air and consumes lots of energy—let nature dry your clothes.

5. Be choosier about what you buy- If it makes you feel good, happy and better when you first wear it, that should continue for well- years.

There are lots of textile producers and brands, including Lotus & Michael, who are committed to environmentally positive processes and products. You should not buy from any brand until they are transparent about their sustainability practices, not for one or two groups or items, but about EVERYTHING  they do. As a consumer, you should demand that before purchase.

As for the rest of your practices including food consumption:

• DON’T use the excuse of being busy as an excuse for poor consumption; I can make a fresh salad in the time you cook your frozen pizza. You should avoid the frozen and packaged aisles as if they don’t exist. For us, they don’t.

• Throw out your microwave and dishwasher—they use a lot of energy and give you another excuse. Washing dishes takes less time than the dishwasher and you can heat your leftovers in pots and pans.

• Eliminate plastic from your life- it is poisoning the environment on the way in and on the way out.

VISUALIZE- Your view from your window is not of the beautiful chrysanthemum or other flowers, but all of the contents of your garbage can that are continuing to pile up daily.

I think the vision should shake you out of your comfortable and destructive life.  Below is not a future fantasy; it is reality today.

Join us at Lotus & Michael—People, Planet, Product.

This, not that- enjoy nature with our plant dyed sportswear featuring—what else?- chrysanthemum embroidery. 

Show your support! Make your statement! Buy now! www.lotusandmichael.com

  

 

Is Recycling the answer to the Textile Climate Catastrophe? Nice, but no.

  

(source)

Is Recycling the answer to the Textile Climate Catastrophe? Nice, but no.

(Mainly Facts and Inescapable Conclusions-Let’s solve the problem together!)

First, the facts:

What is the extent of the problem?

According to businesswaste.co.uk (source):

• 100 billion new garments are produced annually around the world

• The worldwide fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions

• The UN Environment Programme estimates that today people buy 60% more clothes and wear them for half as long

• Around 20% of worldwide industrial wastewater pollution is from the fashion industry

• It takes around 2,700 litres of water to make one cotton shirt

• Of all the clothing thrown away across the world 57% is sent to landfill

• 25% of global clothing waste is incinerated

• Clothes made using synthetic fibres such as polyester and acrylic are responsible for more than 60% of global apparel purchases

• Synthetic fibres take 80 to 800 times longer to decompose than natural fibres like cotton

The solution to the problem, if we want to face it, lies within the above facts.

Not done yet. There’s more:

• About 5% of landfill space is taken up by textile waste

• Textile production releases 2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually

• Producing textiles creates 42 million tonnes of plastic waste each year

• 10% of microplastics that enter the ocean every year are from textiles

• Around 15% of fabric used to manufacture garments is wasted

• Less than 13% of textile waste is recycled in the European Union (EU)

• 72% of bedding ends up in landfill

• Textiles are the third largest category of waste in landfill sites across India

• Natural fibres break down fastest – cotton takes around three months to decompose, linen takes a few weeks, and silk takes one to two years

• Synthetic textile waste takes much longer to decompose – polyester can take between 20 and 200 years to break down, nylon takes anywhere from 30 to 40 years, and rubber takes 50 to 80 years

And how about fast fashion? It is atop the most unwanted list:

• How many times an item of clothing is worn before being discarded has fallen by 36% in the last 15 years

• Fast fashion brands produce 50% more items today compared to the year 2000

• An average American throws out 37kg of clothes every year

• Buying a single white cotton shirt produces the same emissions as driving 35 miles in a car

• Extending clothing life by nine months would reduce carbon, water, and waste footprints by 20 to 30%

• Using clothes for an extra nine months would also save £5 billion in resources used to supply, launder, and dispose of clothes

Now, let’s look at fiber production:

• Global fiber production per person has increased from 8.3 kilograms in 1975 to 14.6 kilograms per person in 2022.

• Polyester production volumes increased from 61 million tonnes in 2021 to 63 million tonnes in 2022. Polyester continues to be the most widely produced fiber, making up 54% of the global market in 2022.

• Recycled textiles’ market share slightly decreased from around 8.5% in 2021 to 7.9% in 2022. Pre- and post-consumer recycled textiles accounted for less than 1% of the total global fiber market in 2022. (source)

So, is recycling the answer? Let’s see. More facts:

“Textiles collected via clothing containers consist of 55% reusable textiles and an average of 37% suitable for recycling (Boer Group figures). But how much of this is actually recycled? In reality, only 1% of all post-consumer textiles are recycled into new clothing. 12% is downcycled into something of lesser value and 87% of textile waste is pure loss. The amount of clothes that is recycled is thus much lower than the marketing campaigns of the big fast fashion chains would suggest.” (source)

Recycling is not the “magic bullet” for textile environmental erosion. Here are some more facts (source):

• Recycled clothes are recycled mechanically and chemically. Those with more than one fiber are recycled chemically, with one of the fibers being lost in the process

• Even clothes that are 100 percent polyester can’t be recycled forever. There are two ways to recycle PET: mechanically and chemically. Mechanical recycling is taking a plastic bottle, washing it, shredding it and then turning it back into a polyester chip, which then goes through the traditional fibre making process. 

• The polyester chips generated by mechanical recycling can vary in colour: some turn out crispy white, while others are creamy yellow, making colour consistency difficult to achieve. Some dyers find it hard to get a white, so they’re using chlorine-based bleaches to whiten the base, inconsistency of dye uptake makes it hard to get good batch-to-batch colour consistency and this can lead to high levels of re-dyeing, which requires high water, energy and chemical use.

• According to a study by a team from Plymouth University, in the UK, each cycle of a washing machine could release more than 700,000 plastic fibres into the environment. To help prevent microplastic pollution when washing items you can place them in a filter washing bag to prevent shedding during the wash.

So it seems that recycling synthetics like polyester, which the above said were 54% of global production, may be causing more harm than good.

How about donating my old clothes? Is that the answer?

Sadly, no. Only a small percentage of those gently used clothes that you donate actually get worn by those who need them. More facts: (source)

• Consider: only between 10 and 30 percent of second-hand donations to charity shops are actually resold in store. The rest disappears into a machine you don’t see: a vast sorting apparatus in which donated goods are graded and then resold on to commercial partners, often for export to the Global South.

• The problem is that, with the onslaught of fast fashion, these donations are too often now another means of trash disposal—and the system can’t cope. Consider: around 62 million tons of clothing is manufactured worldwide every year, amounting to somewhere between 80 and 150 billion garments to clothe 8 billion people.

• The only way that donating is a solution is for you to give unwanted garments DIRECTLY to someone who needs them, or find an organization who does so.

Above I have presented the facts. Now what should we do and not do (my conclusions)?

• DON’T stop recycling your old clothes by sending to a reputable recycler. It is better than throwing them away. BUT it is not the solution to the problem.

• DON’T think that selling your clothes to a secondhand shop or web store is resolving the problem. You may be making money, but in the end you are transferring the problem to someone else.

• DON’T BUY SYNTHETICS- NONE, NEVER, EVER, NO MATTER WHAT THE AD OR THE COMPANY SAYS. They are a ticket to nowhere.

• DON’T be swayed by the promise of discounts and unbelievably cheap prices. Losing your planet will be expensive.

• DO face the facts. You may be only one person, but you ARE part of the problem, unless you:

• DO buy less and buy better- Practice Wabisabi as your lifestyle

• DO Buy only what you need. ONLY buy clothes you can use for many occasions (multifunctional) and that are sustainable once they do die.

• DO stop buying crap because its “cute” or “so cheap” or both.

• DO look at your closet and take a serious inventory of what you can wear where and when. DO stop buying until you’ve figured that out.

One Amsterdam company, Cosh! Has a “Wear for Life” pledge on their website. It  looks like this:

 (source)

Will you take this pledge?

OK, here comes the commercial part, stay with me. Rectifying the situation laid out for you above is the founding mission of Lotus & Michael. “People, Planet, Product”—

• We want to make people so happy with their clothes that they want to wear them all the time;

• Nothing we do harms our planet- NO plastic in any phase of our supply chain; Plant dye fabrics to eliminate chemical pollution;

• If we make Product you love, and is of high enough quality to last, we have contributed to a solution for a catastrophic issue.

•

Still have doubts? Google it for yourself. If you find disputing evidence, send it to us. If not, join us—we have a lot of work to do!

Join us at Lotus & Michael. Your purchase is your statement. www.lotusandmichael.com

11/19/2024

Lotus & Michael: A Natural Love Story: A natural lifestyle gives birth to a brand

 

Lotus & Michael: A Natural Love Story

Our journey began not in a boardroom, but in a tea shop in Shanghai. Michael, then living in Hong Kong, was on a business trip with his partner Pierre. They had some time to spare and decided to explore a tea shop nearby, one that specialized in Taiwan High Mountain Tea.

There, Michael met Lotus—a young woman with a warm smile and a passion for tea. She was different from anyone he had ever met. Over the following months, Lotus and Michael stayed in touch, and when Michael returned to Shanghai in the spring , they began a relationship. Their bond grew strong, rooted in shared values ​​and a commitment to a simpler, more meaningful lifestyle.

Building a Life Together

For six years, Lotus and Michael lived together in Shanghai, enduring the ups and downs of life, but always saving and planning for the future. In 2017, they made the move to the United States, where they eventually married and settled. However, Michael found it difficult to find work in his field due to age bias. Meanwhile, Lotus quickly found a job leveraging her expertise in sourcing and product development.

This setback became the catalyst for something bigger. With their combined knowledge of fashion and sustainable living, they launched a brand: **Lotus & Michael**.

Our Approach to Sustainable Fashion

From the beginning, we knew our brand would reflect our values. We weren't interested in following fast fashion trends or creating disposable clothing. Instead, we committed to crafting high-quality, sustainable pieces that were built to last.

Here's how we approach sustainable fashion:

• No Synthetics

  We avoid synthetic fabrics that can take up to 200 years to decompose. Not only do they contribute to landfill waste, but they also release harmful chemicals into our bodies and water systems when washed.

• High-Quality, Multifunctional Clothing 

  Our pieces are designed to be versatile and durable, so consumers can buy less and wear longer. This reduces waste and promotes a mindful approach to fashion.

• Plant-Dyed Fabrics 

  We plan to use only natural, plant-based dyes to color our fabrics wherever we can, develop where we can't. Synthetic dyes are toxic and prevent natural fibers from breaking down. By using plant dyes, we ensure our products are fully biodegradable, from fiber to dye.

A Lifestyle Rooted in Sustainability

Our commitment to sustainability isn't just for show—it's how we live every day. In our home, you won't find plastic, processed foods, or any disposable conveniences. We shop local, grow our own herbs, and focus on living in harmony with nature.

Our lifestyle even extends to how we manage waste. While most of our neighbors put out several garbage bags each week, we typically have just one. By reducing our consumption and focusing on sustainable practices, we aim to minimize our impact on the planet.

Reimagining the Future of Fashion

As we looked around, we noticed a gap in the fashion market. Few brands offered clothing that was both sustainable and stylish. So we decided to take a stand. Our clothes feature classic designs with elegant embroidery—whether it's a tiger symbolizing strength or a delicate flower represents nature's beauty, each piece tells a story. 

Our mission is to make sustainable fashion accessible to everyone, so that each purchase supports a cleaner, greener future.

Join Us in Our Journey

At Lotus & Michael, we believe in leading by example. We know our path isn't the easiest, but it's the one that aligns with our values. We're on a mission to transform the fashion industry, one sustainable garment at a time . 

If you share our vision, we invite you to join us in this journey. Together, we can create a future where quality, craftsmanship, and respect for nature define the way we dress.

Are you ready to make a difference?

Visit us at www.lotusandmichael.com

See us in action at our Youtube channel www.youtube.com/@lotusandmichael

--- 

Who is the "Lotus" of Lotus & Michael? Name something creative, she nails it

 Who is Lotus?

Artist

Writer

Home Chef

Gardener

Designer 

Want to see more? Visit and follow Lotus Moongate

Needless to say, I am grateful to be involved with such an exceptional individual.

Reprinted from the Lotus & Michael website: Back to the Future: The Story of Plant Dyes - Read this--your planet is depending on YOU

 “Back to the Future”-The story of Plant Dyes (https://www.lotusandmichael.com/blogs/news/back-to-the-future-the-story-of-plant-dyes)

September 17, 2024

Most clothing today, even if the base material is natural, is made using chemical dyes. And a huge amount is disposed every year and ends up in landfills. Here are some facts:

Water- It's estimated that 20% of the world's water pollution is as a result of the fashion industry's dyeing and cultivation processes, with over 800 chemicals used to transform raw materials into fabrics.

Chemicals, pesticides, and wastewater are all released into the ecosystem. We are consuming them every day.

​By 2030, the total amount of fashion waste is expected to be 148 million tons– equivalent to 17.5 kg per person across the planet. (Global Fashion Agenda)

(Source and Learn more: https://www.hawthornintl.com/impact-of-fast-fashion)

It wasn't always that way. In fact, until the end of the 19th century, most garments got their color from plant-based dyes.

Let's take an example we all know: Levi's Jeans.

It is a well-known story that in the 1850's Levi Strauss, a German immigrant and dry goods seller, sold a fabric which used indigo dye from Nimes, France which was then called Serge de Nimes. He teamed up with Jacob Davis to make the original Levi's, workwear with rivets for extra strength.

(Source)

The fabric for the original Levi's was organic and plant-dyed. It came from a flower, Indigofera tinctoria, which was probably sourced in India. Some 20+ years later, a chemist figured out how to duplicate the flower synthetically. So today chemical indigo is known as C16H10N2O2. Your Levi's today (and almost all denim jeans) are made from this chemical.

Then:

(Source)

Now:

(Source)

Of course, plant dyes are limited by their nature, but synthetic substitutes can be produced forever and in any quantity. Also, synthetic substitutes will be cheaper because they are mass produced in chemical plants and plant dyes are produced in an arduous process.

Synthetic dyestuffs are resident along your body, and inevitably end up in your water, whether through textile waste or your washing machine. Even if cotton is biodegradable, the dyestuff is not. Worse, plant dyes will not adhere to synthetic fabrics at all—check your closet, that is a lost cause.

Typical thinking is: “Meeting demand is the only priority because the more our customers buy, the more money we make. And nobody has measured the residual harm.”

Wrong. We believe that it is our mission to go back to the future and make beautiful garments which will do no harm to us or the environment.

Plant dye garments are part of our sustainability statement. What is more, garments dyed naturally with plant dyestuffs reflect the true beauty of nature, not our ability to mimic nature with chemicals. Their colors are vibrant and—well, alive.

If you buy our plant dyed garments, you cast your vote for a better future and agree to limit your wardrobe. You can take comfort in that once they lead a long and multifunctional life (in accordance with our Wabi Sabi belief, they will have a clear mission in your closet). And, if disposed, they will not be still there in the soil 200 years from now.   

IF you don't, you are contributing (in your own small way, but image everyone else is thinking that. Where does that leave us?

Not convinced? Read this article in National Geographic. Are some of YOUR clothes in there?

Now, will you make your statement with our plant dyed Roughwear?

Shop now.                                             

Welcome to the Revolution- A new (old) way of learning- The Way of the Unicorn

Welcome to the Revolution!


I believe most of us, old and young, who have been through university and graduate education, have the same recurring nightmare: piles upon piles of reading, where we had to underline and guess what was significant or what we would be required to remember. Then, even if the instructor reviewed in class, normally we would still be required to remember something from the hundreds of pages we were assigned.


What a ****ing nightmare! Think about the average graduate student that has a 5 course load. Each class may assign 50 or more pages per week, x 5 is 250 pages/week, x14 is 3500 pages/semester. Plus extra reading and studying for exams.


So the honest question for all of us is, is the textbook supposed to be the major source of learning? And just how does the student distill what is important if instructors don’t do it for them? And, if the instructor distills the important parts, how is reading beforehand really a productive use of time?


My experience in my education was that the courses where I relied on the instructor, not the text book, to do the teaching were the ones I got the most out of and still remember. As an example, I was honored to have W. Edwards Deming as an instructor at NYU Stern. No textbook no homework, just come and listen. Because it was HIS subject and he knew it. Another was Military History with Bela Kiraly, a Hungarian General who led the forces that resisted Stalin after WWII.


IN all of this, we should make a distinction between remembering and learning. The former will help you pass tests (not everyone is as good at remembering as others) but will not embed the learning in your head. In fact, an hour later, our mind tells us to jettison the weight and forget the stuff you will no longer need. If we really learn, it becomes muscle memory and our cortex keeps a drawer for it.


To make things a lot worse, here comes Gen Z: born connected, with a virulent dopamine addiction, reducing their attention span to almost nil. When we ask them to read 50-60 pages, they don’t; not necessarily because they don’t want to, because they can’t.


So, depending on a book to do the teaching and preparing the student to think about the subject enough to discuss it articulately in class, doesn’t work, especially in today’s world and especially with foreign students. Now the student, who is not stupid, recognizes that their job is to survive, and the way to do that is do what is necessary to pass or get your grade, whatever that is.


Most of us are in denial of those facts, and the publishing companies, who at least partially get paid by weight, don’t want us to face up. Now including links and other digital doohickies that make the text look not so archaic seems to be the answer.


It is not. Add digital case studies to the text, that is what the student will look at. The ONLY thing. So now they paid for the textbook because they need to get to the case studies.


As an instructor who had spent decades in international business, when I started teaching, I subscribed to the old formula. What did I know? After a couple of years of teaching I had to face up to the fact that the textbooks were not getting read and, even if they were, nothing much was being retained.


My decision then was to eliminate the textbooks and base my teachings on what I knew and believed, supported by videos and other digital media which were much shorter and much more to the point. And I found that discussions and presentations, which were dependent on the students’ thought, were the most valuable learning elements.


So I came up with the idea to write something which would be short, to the point, and require the students’ time for thinking not reading. Thus came The Way of the Unicorn and, with the guidance of the publisher, became a unique interactive playbook not a textbook. The terminology itself explains the difference.


This was all intuitive on my part as a leader of students and someone who was responsible for providing the plays they would use after graduation. They would not enter the workplace as a blank slate.


I didn’t know, when embarking on the project, that wise men before me had led a path to this methodology. The guiding principle for The Way of the Unicorn was stated by Ben Franklin, and maybe was originated with Xun Kuang:


“Tell me and I will forget. Teach me and I will remember. Involve me and I will learn."


THAT is how we need to teach our students and we must provide them with the media which will accomplish this. Granted this is a gift of our technology so we should use it and not be stuck in the old ways because booksellers want us to continue to be in denial or because that is the way it has been done before; for them to change to this format would be cannibalizing billions of dollars of inventory and a sea change of approach.


The military actually has been practicing this forever. When you go to basic training, your training focuses on involvement: Here’s your rifle, now shoot. Oops. You learn because you have to.

This is indeed a revolution, and welcome to it. It is welcome for both students and instructors. Welcome to The Way of the Unicorn!

NOTE: If you qualify as a university instructor or administrator, you may email me at mls19@nyu.edu and I will arrange for you to have guest access to the publication.

 

Fashion and Lotus and Michael and Wabi Sabi

 Wabisabi and Fashion

Wabisabi & Lotus & Michael

 

“Taken from the Japanese words wabi, which translates to less is more, and sabi, which means attentive melancholy, wabi-sabi refers to an awareness of the transient nature of earthly things and a corresponding pleasure in the things that bear the mark of this impermanence.” (link)

Fashion by its nature is impermanence; it is the celebration of the new and the now

But, think about it: some parts of fashion endure and take on new avatars that resonate with us.

The same goes for nature; things pass, fade, come back and give us renewed joy.

This is our work at Lotus & Michael:

Less is more—minimalist, classic style-humble color, built with quality, comfort and endurance in mind—adorned with embroidery as a touch of elegance:

The fading and rebirth of flowers, creatures and all the earth’s gifts, celebrated with our embroidery.

Clothing that is simply multifunctional, as at home at work as on the beach or out to dinner as opposed to impulsive additions with a questionable role. More and newer is not necessarily better; it may add clutter to your wardrobe and decision-making.

“Wabi sabi encourages us to create empty space in our life instead of adding more and more. In that way, instead of pursuing objectives created artificially by the consumer society, this new empty space will gradually fill up only with what is beautiful and essential, instead of with noise and pressures that cause us stress.”   This is the difference between Lotus & Michael and fast fashion that consumes our brains and money: Our garments will play many roles, and perform with equal beauty for years— you can donate the rest- we did.

At the same time we recognize the impermanence of life and nature, so we celebrate our gifts, do not take them for granted, and understand that it is our responsibility to sustain them. 

The true beauty of Wabi Sabi is wonderfully captured in this story from India:

“A farmer who lived to the north of Jaipur would go to the closest spring to his farm every day for water. To carry the water, he rested a long wooden pole on his neck. A bucket hung from each end of the stick, which he would fill at the spring.

After a while, when he was returning home after fetching water, he realized that one of the buckets was half empty. Apparently, it had a small crack. The farmer decided to keep on using the broken bucket for years.

The bucket that always made it back home full was proud of its achievements. Every day it blamed the other bucket for the problem caused by its flaws.

‘You’re always spilling the water on the way back,’ said the perfect bucket. ‘You do half the work I do – you’re useless!’

‘I’m really sorry… I’m ashamed that the water leaks out because of this crack I have,’ the imperfect bucket apologized. Ashamed of its flaw, the bucket that always made it back half empty began to get depressed andbecame less and less talkative.

One day, the farmer heard the two buckets’ conversation. And he turned to the imperfect bucket saying: ‘Have you noticed that beautiful flowers have sprung up on your side of the path, but on the otherside there is nothing but earth and stones?’

The perfect bucket, lost for words, looked at the imperfect bucket enviously.

‘I planted seeds on your side of the path and every day you watered them when we returned home together,’ the farmer went on. ‘Over the last few years, I’ve been picking some of those flowers to decorate my house. Without you, I would never have been surrounded by such beauty.’” 

When we at Lotus & Michael wear our clothes, we make our statement-- we celebrate the then, now and tomorrow in a way that recognizes the nature of simple beauty and the complex marriage of fashion with function.

Does that resonate with you? Join us!

8 poems by me

I love writing poems- maybe because it is the only medium where I can combine irony humor and have a lot of fun with no consequence or outcome, because I do it for enjoyment and not to take myself too seriously. 

I have occasionally thrown in a poem here and there on this blog, but here's a quick selection of 8 that I like:

I am

I am

A blip in time;

I have no past

I have no future

Gone in an instant

A Blip

A blip

Can last

A hundred

Even a thousand

Years.

In Time

In Time

I will

Laugh

Cry

Love

Eat

Shit

Fuck

Revere

Nature

Kiss

Babies

Pet

Dogs

Doze

In Sunlight

Walk

In Rain;

This

Is MY

Time.

The Present.

The Helmsman

He stands tall against the wind

Grey-bearded, hand on the helm;

His skiff has survived storms,

Sharks, and the boiling sun.

At the bow sits a small young girl

With only a bucket hat

To protect her from the spray.

She looks anxious, afraid

they will never reach their destination.

Then she comforts herself

With the knowledge that she is not alone;

The Helmsman has made it many times

And is courageous, fearless,

Committed unconditionally to the journey.

He stands tall against the wind

Grey-bearded, hand on the rudder;

And he understands

The importance

Of arriving.

Fuck the rest.

My Life is Full of Shit?

That’s all you got?

All there is to it?

Just a bunch of shit.

And me with no pot. 

Is it all of you?

With your insincere twitter

That put me on the shitter

With your lies and drivel

And me with no shovel...

Does it pay off?

To be honest anymore?

When everyone else

Is none but a whore?

If you won’t join in

And you mean what you say

Then save the day

And just withdraw.

Where does an honest man go?

What does he do?

Find a soulmate for you

And, together, blow.

Don’t make a speech

Just pack it in

Find a beach

With lots of gin.

Unlimited lime

Unlimited shrimp

And bullshit is a sin.

Cats and Dogs

The Cat

(with Homage to Carl Sandburg)

The foggy cat

Enters on little cat’s feet

Takes a

slowly

slithering

shit

and moves on.

I love my dog

I love my dog

And he loves me.

I love him so much

I lift my leg to pee.

I dig my Pig

I dig my pig

She’s cute and fat,

She stole my heart.

My stomach asks, 

Can we eat that?

Hello Swimming Duck

Hello swimming duck!

Your paddling feet

Webs are a treat;

Your glistening breast

Sous Vide is best;

Your delicate thigh

I enjoy with rye;

Your supple leg

Yum! braised with fig;

Your elegant wings

Oh! my belly sings;

I love you, duck-

You’re a glorious creature

As a menu feature!

Wham-a-Lamb

Wham, you juicy lamb!

Fatty and delicious:

Your leg is so supple

It makes my mouth bubble.

I see your little head

Detached from the rest--

You look so surprised!

Were you not advised 

your taste was the best?

The Way of the Unicorn- Welcome to the Revolution!

 

Below is the Welcome section from the publication:

Welcome!

Welcome to The Way of the Unicorn.

Why did I write this book?

I wrote this book because, when I started teaching several years ago,  I felt the results of my teaching were not satisfactory. Even if the students liked me and my teaching, what did they actually take away? Not enough if anything. Why?

One key reason is that the few key concepts facts and teachings that really counted were getting buried with the crush of information that typically is thrown at college students. Just for example—let’s say a student is taking 5 courses during the semester, and each one requires 50-60 pages of reading per week. That’s up to 300 pages before any questions, quizzes, discussions etc. And not exactly romance novels—usually boring, wordy and written at the writer’s level, not the student’s.

Not so much, right? Let’s say you are a foreign student, reading in English. Or you are a GenZ student with a serious dopamine addiction. What will you do to satisfy it? Probably put the book down and spend your time on TikTok or the like.

The final result of the above is: most students didn’t read the 300 pages. How many did they read? Little or none. Those that did attempt to read got washed away with words. This is the case today, and academics and publishers alike have to face it. Publishing house libraries and bookstores are filled with books that may be 5-600 pages long. Now many publishing houses are conceding to the digital world and adding links to their publications. So now students have to read and look at the links.

When there was nothing but books, we couldn’t solve the problem. And we were used to that regimen. Today’s technology allows us to do more with less—and make it interactive from the getgo.

The evolution of my teaching and using the available technology led me to reduce the amount of reading I assigned, focus the students’ time on thinking and retaining  what is important to remember. Consequently, I developed lectures that took my students in that direction—thinking and talking about a topic helps you to internalize what it is about.

That is the first and most important premise of The Way of the Unicorn: spend students’ time thinking not reading. And talking about what you think.

But what is this Unicorn stuff?

My experience in business combined with teaching marketing and strategy courses led me to recognize that, to be successful in business (and isn’t that what we are teaching students to become?), you need to rise above the clutter and be special. As I have said in the book more than once, Be a Unicorn, not an Also.

If you agree with that premise, then how do you think it, do it, plan it and deliver it? Not just today, but sustainably? That is what the book is about.

There are literally tens of thousands (maybe more) of pages written about the subjects I discuss in the book. My goal is to distill those pages into what you need to know and remember.

Second point: The Way of the Unicorn is written to tell you what you need to know to adopt a successful business strategy. Period.

Because of this, I do not accept that it is a textbook. If I wanted you to play football for me, I would not furnish you with the complete history of the game and every play that has ever been run; I would give you a playbook that is appropriate for next week’s competition: Here’s what you need to know for now.

Final problem to overcome: The most challenging task I found as an instructor at the undergrad or graduate level was to get students engaged and actively involved in the class. Every time I was evaluated, the focus was on this point. So The Way of the Unicorn is totally interactive, using updated technology to compel students to participate and spend their time thinking about the subject- not reading about it. 

I believe this book is a new paradigm for teaching. Its methodology is suitable for any major or subject, if the writers orient themselves in the way I described above.

What is different about students learning from The Way of the Unicorn than traditional pedagogy? A saying is attributed to Ben Franklin which may have originated 2000 years before in China by Xun Kuang:

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." Because the students are totally involved in their learning, they will retain more with less. 

Third point: Students will learn from themselves and other students; this is much more likely to be internalized than when it comes from an instructor.

That said, the book is linked with the LMS when it needs to be.

The chapters are the homework and the lecture. Totally interactive and participative. This will make for more productive time for students and instructors alike.

None of this could have been accomplished without the help of Great River Learning. I am very grateful for their belief in me and my project.

Read on and enjoy the experience.

I also hope that you can use this book as a reference point for business. Again, why it is a playbook  not a textbook.  The latter are sold, donated or disposed after school. I hope this is your Little Red Book that you carry with you and leave in your top right desk drawer.

Michael Serwetz

June 26, 2024

Ridiculously hot and sunny.

When I Met Monet by Lotus Zhang (Of Lotus & MIchael)

Read this post on Lotus & Michael Blog When I Met Monet Part II :

When Michael wears our Kungfu shirt and stands on the bridge leisurely looking over the pond, I recall the painting I did years ago. That painting is about Monet; about Monet standing on his Japanese bridge watching his beloved waterlilies.

 

If Monet were here, he would like to wear the same clothes Michael is wearing now, and would look over the pond as Michael does.

READ MORE.... When I Met Monet Part II

Are you a Why or a Why Not? Think carefully. Your future may depend on it.

 Are you a why or a why not?

Think carefully. Your future may depend on it.

Are you afraid of change? Don’t like your current situation but can’t face the future with something different? Then you have a fixed mindset.

Or, do you welcome change as opportunity? Risks yes, but possible rewards outweigh them. Then you have a growth mindset.

Do you prejudge the future as if you can predict it? Do you defend the present as “we have always done it this way?”

Here’s the key question—please think about it. Are you a why or a why not?

The answers to these questions will most likely determine the course of your career and your relationships.

The most famous case of failure due to a fixed mindset is the case of Detroit in the 1980’s as told in Richard Halberstam’s The Reckoning. “Doing things the Detroit way” lost American carmakers the dominant share of market—forever.

One of the best movies of all time shows the paralytic, destructive and even tragic consequences of a fixed mindset: How Green Was My Valley, John Ford’s 1941 masterpiece telling the story of a Welsh mining town (which could be anywhere) that is so tragically stuck in their mindset so that the only way out is—out.

I recommend you watch this movie on YouTube or wherever you get your media. Then come back here and comment about your takeaways from this film. As with all films of that time, the focus is on acting, not effects. Great performances and a great story won this film 5 Oscars. It is one of my all time favorites—it entertains and teaches if you pay attention and open your mind.

Finally, answer the question for yourself: Are you a why or a why not? Are you happy with your answer? What will you do to change it if you feel change is needed.

Here is the link to the movie on YouTube: How Green Was My Valley?

Next article: an approach you can take to improve your mindset.

  

Lotus & MIchael Road trip 1- To the Outer Banks (OBX)

“Want a road trip?” One day Michael suddenly asked, who had been inspired by his friend’s recent road trip.

“Road trip?” I felt interested, “Go where?”

“Down to the south along the east coast. We can go to Savannah, perhaps even Miami. We can leave it open, see how we feel then.”

Thus, we started the packing right away: One basket for our clothes, one basket for our drinks and fruit, one basket for the toiletries. Next morning, with a full tank of gas, our “wide-eyed” little green mini carrying us set off toward the south, where the sun shone blazingly.

 

Our first stop was the north Outer Banks, Kill Devil Hills. Sea, beach, palm trees, and sun-tanned people. Michael was born and grew up by the sea, so being with the ocean, listening to its roaring or rumbling, letting the refreshing sea breezes pass through his hair, he felt like he was back to his deep soul. While to me, who so lacked experience about the sea and beach, I was captured by the ocean aura immediately. Yes, the Ocean does have its particular aura: It is calm, yet wild; it is open, yet mysterious; it is clear and gay, yet salty and bitter. 

With our toes in sand, while watching the tides, I thought of a Chinese poem. It goes:

“Starting from tomorrow, I shall be a happy man--

Feed my horse, chop my firewood, and travel around the world;

Starting from tomorrow, I shall care for my crops and vegetables,

And build a house, facing the sea, enjoy the blooming spring.

Starting from tomorrow, I shall write to all my friends,

Telling them my happiness.

Whatever I get from that flash of happiness,

I shall tell everyone.

Give each river, each mountain a heartwarming name;

My dear stranger, I will offer you my best wishes as well--

May you own a prosperous future,

May you obtain a good ending with your darling one,

May you eventually find your happiness.

While I, I only hope to be facing the sea, enjoy the blooming spring.”

In my case, beside the sea and blooming spring, I will build a garden as well, a most magnificent sea garden. I already started it with a small collection of shells and stones that I took away.

 

What is A Wearable Tattoo™? And why you may like to get one

 

Many of us (like me) have tattoos.

Some are small, some are bigger.

Some can be seen by others.

Some are hidden, to appear only to our intimates.

Celebrities with exposed tattoos have a better chance of them being seen by many others. They range from large and obvious, like Mike Tyson’s Maori eye tattoo, to Dame Helen Mirren’s interlocking v’s. Tyson said that he got the face tattoo to make a statement about himself as a warrior, and Mirren says that she was drunk when she got it (as were many that did the same), and that it represents “love thy neighbor.”

So what do all these tattoos have in common?

First, they are indelible, except with a lot of pain.

Second, they all make a statement.

But what if Mike Tyson doesn’t feel like a warrior one day? Or if Helen Mirren doesn’t feel so tolerant?

Too bad.

I think we can all agree that on different days, even different times of the day, we have many different feelings—power, powerlessness, love, beauty, happiness, dangerousness, endangered.

So, what if you could have a tattoo that you could wear when you feel like it and not when you don’t? Or that you could cover and expose at will?

If you like this idea, Lotus & Michael garments are for you. We created the Wearable Tattoo™

Dragon, Lion, Mamba, Spider, Peony, Sinensis, even Double Happiness and more on the way. These are all your go-to top, dress or shorts. Depending on how you feel that day.

Wear them, don’t, show them, don’t. Up to you.

All of this on garments that look, fit and feel great.

The result: Happiness.

Try them and give us your feedback by sending a picture of yourself with the garment on. The best combination of picture and story gets a free garment of your choice.