I’ve loved to sew all my life. I started sewing clothes for my dolls when I was 7. My mother showed me how to stitch with a needle and thread, and it was my favorite pastime when it was too cold and snowy to play outside. As a teenager, I began to design and sew my own outfits. I cut out paper patterns to construct dresses and skirts, and I’d sit at the old sewing machine for hours.

In my late 20s, I began to buy used and vintage clothes to upcycle and refashion. My favorite places to buy vintage clothes are thrift shops (旧货店) and church rummage sales (教堂义卖).

However, about 10 years ago, when I was ripping out the silk lining (内衬) from a beautiful long blue evening dress, I stopped. There was a hidden pocket in the front that I failed to notice as I merrily ripped at the seams. I pulled out an old photo of a young woman wearing the very same blue evening dress. A long silver chain necklace hung gracefully down the front of the dress, and she was holding a black purse. She had a soft smile, and she looked to be in her early 20s.

Somebody else wore this dress many years ago. Who was she? Did she wear it to the theater? To a fancy dinner party? And I was now tearing it apart. I felt guilty.

I mentioned my concerns and guilt to my daughter. She said, “Mom, you should be proud of your upcycling and your sewing creations. You are keeping clothes out of the landfill (垃圾填埋场), and you’re creating new fashions. Consider it a bonus (意外收获) if you find objects in the pockets. The clothes are talking to you!”

I decided to pay homage to this upcycling discovery -and the many others I’ve found over the years — by displaying them on a bulletin board in my sewing room. These discoveries have made me enjoy refashioning and upcycling clothes even more. But I have learned to be a little gentler when I rip seams open with my scissors, and I approach pockets more carefully.

As 35-ycar-old Rajesh walked out of the HR head’s office, he couldn’t help crying and his mind went empty. Suddenly, a regular day at work had turned into his last day in the office. Having cleared his desk of his things and small objects he had used to beautify his workspace. he pulled himself with difficulty to the nearby café and called his wife. Nina.

People like Rajesh are being “let go” for a variety of reasons: poor performance, personal issues and so on. Most people. even though they are aware of the realities, go through a mix of emotions: shock. refusal. self-blame (自资), anger, often leading to unhappiness.

The most important thing is not to think of yourself as a victim (受害者). First, consider self-care. Then, develop a plan to keep yourself busy. Meanwhile, you can update your resume (简历) on the website and make a list of friends and relatives who could help you find a new job.

At first. Rajesh was obviously very upset and spent a number of days staying in bed. Seeing this, Nina took time off from work and even took him to the adviser, from whom he learn-ed that he had become too satisfied with his job and was refusing the reality around him. He had never thought of considering his own professional development. This insight helped him refocus his energy: from playing the blame game to getting new skills and being ready for a better job.

Rajesh and Nina then decided to move from Mumbai to Bengaluru, where his IT skills were more popular. So a newly focused Rajesh first got himself a job. The silver lining was that the cost of living in Bengaluru was lower and they could even achieve their dream of having an apartment.