08/10/2026
💔 Rushing to the future. Anxious about preparing for it. Consuming away from nature.
Could this be the unconscious bias that the “seasons” of commerce quietly create in our lives?
The story of IDK-er Marina Velikova gives a glimpse into the answer...
End of September. Autumn has barely begun in The Netherlands.
A time to clean up the garden, harvest what has grown, plant new things.
I went looking for garden gloves. None on the shelves. I asked.
The shopkeeper's answer caught me off guard:
“No garden gloves. The season is over. It’s time for Christmas.”
She, like us — the customers — was already being pushed towards Christmas.
And perhaps even more striking:
Buy standard decorations instead of taking the time to create something of our own.
✨ For the past two years, I’ve chosen to break the bias —
celebrating the start of each season through our meetups with people from all walks of life.
For each edition, I look to make simple, season-inspired resources that invite people to craft, connect, and co-create experiences rooted in nature.
For our 12th edition last September, inspired by a suggestion from an earlier participant Jamilène Ridderstaat, I made an autumn photo frame with the kids from Xpect013 CulTuur BSO Monopole in , where we host the meetup.
⭕ The frame = a large circle cut from an unused TV box.
🍁 The decoration = anything that evoked autumn — natural finds, discarded tea packaging and images cut from old boxes.
🙌 A couple of hours in the flow of crafting... and voilà: what started as “waste” became a frame for seeing autumn differently.
THE OUTCOME?
AN EXPERIENCE: Truly energising, meditative and co-creative — on my own and together with the kids who joined spontaneously, contributing their ideas, questions and ways of seeing and making.
TWO CREATIONS: The frame brought the seasonal vibe to the meetup and created unique memories together. But it also inspired barbara sauvaitre - our creative partner - to create another upcycled frame, with focus on people together.
MEANINGFUL: Not consuming the season, but experiencing it.
SUSTAINABLE: Not buying, but creating through upcycling.
PRESENT: Not rushing towards what’s next, but being fully where we are.
- nature & humans!
What could your seasonal step be today?