Sew-Wear
(Sow?-Where?: We must sow. Where there is ground.)
Season One
Episode 1: Spread the Seeds:
(The First One: Will it be: Fowls. Stones. Thorns. Sun. Or Good ground?)
Part One: Let the Ground Do What It Do
Written by: Victor E. Moseley
Email: vemoseley@landcause.com
Blue Sky: vemoseley17.bsky.social
Prologue:
(That feeling Mother Sayer told me about has come over me. Now that I have felt it; let’s keep it moving she said. The planning for her idea is still coming out of Sarah W. Certainty’s mind. Thrown like debris from a Category 5 Hurricane that one can either dodge and not get hurt, or stand there firmly on the ground and catch every cascading thought because when that wind stops, act like those ideas may not come again with the next Hurricane.
Mother Sayer doesn’t speak in philosophical terms or drone about speaking incantations. There is no magic you may conjure she says. There is only the work you put into your blessings to not make the ‘First Father’ a fool for choosing you as his vessel to bring his creation into the world. Fashion is ‘cover’ for his likeness. That’s something the First Father embraced after the fiasco in his lovely and perfectly arrayed ‘Garden of Eden’. So don’t mess it up she told me.
Alright I said. I have to begin somewhere and you said I picked the right places to begin. Mother Sayer is supportive and I’ve learned to leave it at that, Sarah says to herself. Now, I’ve got 3 candidates that I’ve chosen. One is all over the place her instructor says, but she is frighteningly original in her clothier drawings across even personality she thinks. That, I have to see Sarah says. The other two are still in K-12 schools. One is about to graduate middle school with an eye for old English flare. The last one is going through the motions in his neighborhood that doesn’t uplift gay leanings. Sarah thinks now is the time to get them away from the influences that could crush their gifts.
Uoherbhai, you and I will go see all 3 of them. We won’t take no for an answer either.).
——————————Not A Rescue Mission————————————-
Sarah W. Certainty: Let’s travel to the furthest one on our list shall we Uoherbhai. That way we can present our case quickly to her, and then move on to the next 2 fields to pluck them before they settle into thorny ground.
Uoherbhai: Do you even know if she will drop out of school to work with us?
Sarah W. Certainty: I don’t know this. Wait. I don’t need her to drop out before she finishes her Master’s. We are going to spend time over 2 days looking at all her drawings. Her creations. Her life and by that I mean every picture she has ever taken to get an idea if she has that energy we seek.
Uoherbhai: Wait. Her pictures? What about her pictures would tell us anything?
Sarah W. Certainty: Oh Uoherbhai. You don’t know, of a truth, about what pictures mean? Let me see a picture of you. I know you have a picture in your purse don’t you? Take it out. Let me see it.
————————————–Pause——————————————————
(Uoherbhai is starting to consider what ‘truth’ about a picture she is going to hear from Sarah. Maybe Sarah thinks she is going to solve a crime or something by catching something in the background. Something in the picture that tells what time of day it was taken. What?).
Uoherbhai: Here’s one I took of myself with some friends of mine.
Sarah W. Certainty: ‘U-Her’ (Sarah calls Uoherbhai to keep the conversation moving.). I will tell you what I see in your picture. You are playing along with your friends. By that I mean your personality is trying not to upset everybody else by your brooding and standoffish nature. You barely cracked a smile. That says you didn’t want to ruin the enjoyment everyone else was having.
Uoherbhai: Okay, okay, I get it. Sort of.
Sarah W. Certainty: U-her, I want you to do something for me. I need you to start letting go of all the things that other human beings do to put people down. Because this world is great at discarding people who don’t give them what they need to enjoy their lives. It is never our ‘job’ to make other people’s lives better by diminishing ourselves. Do you understand?
Uoherbhai: Yes, I get that. Aren’t we intending to do that to what’s her name?
Sarah W. Certainty: Hedgie Fletts Steirlyght. Her program of study is the Masters in Fine Art and Communication.
Uoherbhai: Okay. Unusual name. Maybe her parents naming her that name had a hand in forming her personality. The Master’s program maybe, is possibly where she pointed her compass to regain control of the rumblings in her own heart. Just saying.
Sarah W. Certainty: Might you say? I say all the better. You know where I came from U-her. My parents didn’t steer me in no direction. They ‘trained’ me up in the normal things every child should receive like manners, respect, spirituality. (Sarah sees U-her looking at her in a disbelieving way when she mentioned spirituality so she addresses it.). Yes, U-her, even spirituality exists in a home where the head deals in organized crime.
Uoherbhai: You got me. I was thinking things of a derogatory nature because your parents do make their living from the mob. Sorry. I’m learning subtlety as I go. Ah. Do you really want me there? I mean I don’t know what I can offer.
Sarah W. Certainty: Huh? (Sarah sighs at U-her. Mother Sayer said, ‘do not take the directness of your people as confrontational. It is a sign that they are on board with you. They want you to succeed. So help them help you do just that’.). As you have probably learned already about me, I consume information from the people around me and my environment. What I need from you U-her is what I put you on my team for. I need you to feed me information about behaviors. Don’t look so surprised. Introverts always absorb, and interpret, the mannerisms of the people around them.
Uoherbhai: Okay. You know what you have with me. How do you know so much about me that quickly though?
Sarah W. Certainty: Your picture told me. A little picture joke. Poses? Females always pose for pictures even more than males do. The picture helps fill in the ‘profile’. Look. I don’t have the time right now to explain relationship building, so you just have to keep being you and we’ll stay alert to every clue ‘Hedgy’ gives us about herself.
Uoherbhai: Alright. I’m learning more about how that is done right now I see.
Sarah W. Certainty: Oh, don’t worry about it. Imagine what I had to learn from Mother Sayer. She possesses more knowledge, expertise and just plain ole common folksy sense that a doctoral thesis could be compiled about her.
Uoherbhai: Double spaced right? Mother Sayer. She is an extraordinary woman. I also would agree with that. She saw something in me too, and immediately moved me up in The ARC.
Sarah W. Certainty: I know U-her. That’s why you’re with me now as I build out my dream. I want to build it with you, but I must tell you that I will also build it without you. You understand?
Uoherbhai: I do. I know both of your types.
Sarah W. Certainty: Excuse me?
Uoherbhai: The type of women that make sure they take care of themselves and who they have in their family. You don’t have children Sarah, but I know you are just as fierce as a lioness with three young scooting along by your side.
Sarah W. Certainty: Oh. Right. Sorry for the aggression.
Uoherbhai: Don’t be. Aggression is good according to Wall Street, or is it greed? Anyway. I expected it, and I expect more of it.
————————————-Arrival in New York City, New York————————————
(New York city, New York. What goes on in this culturally diverse city where the legends are known, and many of them legends were likely inflated. Still, there is no dispute about the history of this city. The human energy that was grounded deep in the Earth here, and served as an irresistible draw to those that could match that energy and expand it. Wow! Just the creativity from hordes of different nationalities pouring all they had into multiple industries with all of them eventually coming together to make this city vibrantly interconnected. That must have been an incredible time just to be a witness to it all.
Pratt Institute started contributing to increasing the fundamental qualities that should govern life here in New York City and beyond in the year 1887. Sarah knows from her gatherings with Mother Sayer how progress was made long ago. It was simply done by word of mouth. Once something was found out it was shared. Maybe just copied by people just passing by. Farming. How to dig a well. Even how to do people wrong was observed and eagerly repeated. So, there are no illusions about what human beings have spread across America and other nations have done across the world in their societies. Sarah lets U-her know to keep an open mind about people and what they ‘absorbed’ from their gatherings.
Don’t expect anything from anybody when you show up out of the blue. Even if we have the right opportunity for her and the other two on our little road trip. Sarah remembers Mother Sayer admonishing her to keep the laudation to a minimum. The initial meeting should be ‘you’ meaning Sarah to be less overwhelming as possible. Not too much information about the company or the opportunity she will offer.
Okay. That’s nice. Just be nonchalant then.).
Sarah W. Certainty: (The flight from Louisville, Kentucky was pleasantly normal. Nothing different there. I don’t feel like a woman with power. Yet.). U-her, let’s allow the line to die down before we leave the plan. We’re not seated in first class you know.
Uoherbhai: (This flight had too many people on it. My row buddy was quite talkative. I hope I wasn’t rude by nodding courteously and putting in my earbuds.). Yes Sarah.
Sarah W. Certainty: (All the normal things are done in an airport, and the car service takes them to the hotel.). U-her, let’s get something to eat and plan our day for tomorrow. I know a nice place downtown that’s not too expensive. I got to do what Mother Sayer tells me. ‘You’re not on vacation Sarah’, she said.
Uoherbhai: (All you get from U-her is a smile and a nod of compliance and off they are to the restaurant.). This is good.
Sarah W. Certainty: What? A chicken sandwich? You didn’t even get some fries to go with it.
Uoherbhai: Just trying to keep it lighthearted and my stomach safe, mind you. I just arrived in a new city; you do realize that?
Sarah W. Certainty: Oh, okay. I see Black folk coming out of you. Got it. You could be correct playing this thing cautiously. Oh well, I did hear you order and just got some salmon, asparagus and white wine. Alcohol does balance out any possible ‘bug’ going from one climate to the next. Mother Sayer did clue me in on that superstition.
Uoherbhai: We do have a lot of them, and if you’re thinking none of them can be proven true by the scientific method. You are probably right. That still wouldn’t matter to us ah, Black folk. We still practice them just like we practice our faith in God.
Sarah W. Certainty: (With dinner over and the ride back to the hotel in a cab. Sarah and U-her have rooms on the same floor. The little strategy session takes place with U-her in her room. ‘Always be training’, Sarah. She runs Mother Sayer back across her mind.). Your room is nice U-her. What do you think? Hedgie (pronounced ‘Hed,gy’) is a White young woman that dresses in gothic style clothing.
Uoherbhai: Well, I think we should be expressionless and walk around admiring and respecting her space. Don’t stare at her clothing. Don’t give off any impression that we aren’t comfortable. Let her know by our actions that we see her and we hear her.
Sarah W. Certainty: Done. I will ask her if she has any pictures of herself and if she does can we see them.
Uoherbhai: When she does ask you why. You will say that we often assess our business partners by a holistic approach. It’s not a judgment, but a chance for us to get to know you better. Just, we know anyone can show you a glossy brochure. Our environment where you will be working is lovely. We just like to be as plain as we can be about who we are.
Sarah W. Certainty: That’s good. We’ll play off each other as women of different races that aren’t catty or acting like we got dicks instead of pussies.
Uoherbhai: Good visual.
Sarah W. Certainty: I love it when we can talk just straight out in the open. I’ll see you for breakfast. After that, we’ll get started on our day getting out to Brooklyn to meet Hedgie.
Uoherbhai: Good night Sarah.
Sarah W. Certainty: Sleep well U-her.
————————————-Arrival at Pratt Institute———————————————
(So, this is what it’s like to be on the grounds where diligent harvesting has happened. From the fields where the seeds of curiosity were sown. This gathered bounty of knowledge is a diverse harvest. Many different disciplines (crops) have fed and filled many minds, and continue to fill, thousands of minds and souls. We just come to see the result of this great pasture of renewals that occur year round on one particular student.
Now as Sarah thinks to herself that every person comes to the table with a taste for only what they like. Hedgie (Hedgy she has already nicknamed her) has chosen a field of study to master what she believes is planted in her. Hedgy is in the Fashion Collection + Communication, MFA. The Masters of Fine Art is a tell first of all about her level of commitment. U-Her I want to explore that somewhere along the timeline of this first meeting with her.
Sarah is loving this in a motherly way. Sarah knows Mother Sayer would describe it as an ‘elder’ guiding the young in the ways that are beneficial and hopefully leads to good outcomes. Sarah has almost completely internalized what it means to know who you are, and be able to be mentally adept with the mission at hand and beyond. Keep stoking that Italian fire girl. Sarah says with a restrained but confident smile across her face. Let’s go build out your team.).
Sarah W. Certainty: U-her. Who is our contact in the Registrar’s office?
Uoherbhai: No contact. Just walk in and ask their procedures to visit a student.
Sarah W. Certainty: Okay. Well do you have any idea how friendly they are? Anything other than just walking off the street looking to talk to a student?
Uoherbhai: Well, if I had to guess. I would say they would want us to check in first. You know, see some credentials. Get a phone number to The ARC. Verify our legitimacy before they would ask any student to come down to see us. You can’t be too careful these days with liability and all.
Sarah W. Certainty: Well. That was a good rundown of what we should expect. Makes sense to me.
Uoherbhai: You have your business card? I’ll do the talking. It will be more professional and create the right atmosphere.
Sarah W. Certainty: How important I am and how valuable my time is, seeing that I came all this way from Louisville, Kentucky to basically interview a potential fashion designer.
Uoherbhai: Correct. I wish we had our ‘Better Business Bureau software and protocol suite of services’ already up and running. This is exactly the situation where it could enhance our credibility. A downloadable 90 second screed showing all the bonafides of The ARC with the executive staff and all the numbers from finance, products, services and position across industries.
Sarah W. Certainty: Just a few handouts is all we have.
Uoherbhai: We’ll make magic with what we got. We got this.
(With that Sarah and U-her head over to the Registrar’s office to begin the process of establishing the name of The ARC and hopefully when this meeting happens and concludes well; it’ll be a solid pipeline for heads up about any talented person that may fit what we’re attempting to accomplish at The ARC.)
———————————————-The Registrar’s Office————————————-
Uoherbhai: Hi. We’re here from a Products and Services Company. The ARC Incorporated. We’ve heard so much about your college here and wanted to get to know a little more about the fields of study. Is there someone here that can help us?
The Receptionist: (A work study student is currently at the desk and she is looking quite interested in what we have to say.). Yes. Give me a moment. Who may I say is visiting us today? My name is Janea. I work up front here in between classes.
Uoherbhai: I am Uoherbhai and this is one of the executives at The ARC, Ms. Sarah Certainty.
Sarah W. Certainty: Pleased to meet you.
Janea: Hello Ms. Sarah. Around this time of day, the late morning, it is pretty busy here in the complex. Wait here. I’ll see if someone is available to help you.
Sarah W. Certainty: U-Her, how do you think this will go? When she comes back?
Uoherbhai: Right now? This is basically an in-person cold call as the industry would label it. I think we should transition to what we discussed last night. This Janea. I think she likes to have a little fun. Let’s prove it.
Sarah W. Certainty: Okay then. Do your thing baby girl.
(Janea comes back to her position in the Registrar’s office in the Student Center. This is how it goes when the answer you’re about to give doesn’t further the interests of the ‘party’ in front of her. Janea’s body language tells it as it should. She speaks what U-her already knew she would say.).
Janea: My boss has a prior appointment that will arrive soon. She wants to know if maybe we can set something up at a later date?
Uoherbhai: That’s truly understandable Ms. Janea. Look, we’re going to be in town a couple more days. We’d like to take a look around the community. See a few sights. Get a clue where the good places to eat are. Could you help us out with that? You know. Point us in the right direction?
Janea: You show right. If you buying the drinks as well?
Sarah W. Certainty: Can’t wear a sexy outfit and not have a good time. That would bring shame to the game girl.
Janea: (Janea’s smile cannot be misinterpreted. She’s in.). What hotel are you staying? I can meet you there around 8 pm.
Uoherbhai: At the Artezen Hotel. Just ask for us at the front desk. We’ll come down. You know and we’ll be off to have some fun.
Sarah W. Certainty: (Sarah adds a little ‘rider’ to the Mother Sayer wisdom about always be training. ‘Always be learning from your people too Sarah. She says to herself’.). Don’t be afraid to show me, you know, what you don’t want to show me. I was raised by a tough dude.
Janea: (This is when Janea’s ‘get to know’ energy kicks into high gear about this White woman telling her to spare no experience.). I’m sure you can take care of yourself. You don’t look American to me.
Sarah W. Certainty: Excellent eye for detail you have there Janea. I’m Italian. All that fire you may or may not have heard about Italians. I can verify it quickly for you if you like?
Janea: No need. I scoped you out the moment you walked in here. You a real Nig, ah, well. Your energy is drawing and might I be forward? Crushing.
Uoherbhai: Well, let’s not discover too much too soon now. We’ll see you tonight around 8 at the hotel?
Janea: I’ll definitely be there ladies.
To be Continued………