Trash Talks June Round-Up
Last month we talked about the weather, the value of shared experiences and keeping many eggs in many baskets.
After celebrating the milestones of 150th Trash Talk and Trash Club’s 4th Birthday, a new chapter begins for the Trash Talks with community members taking turns to lead the conversations. As a global community of conscious creatives, we meet across time zones and professional disciplines. The Trash Talks bring us together, with a new topic and fresh perspectives shared each week, and yet remain consistently relatable. Last month we talked about the weather, the value of shared experiences and keeping many eggs in many baskets.
“Nobody talks about the weather hoping to hear something new” so Morgan Vanek opens her TEDx talk, quoting Samuel Johnson “When two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather; they are in haste to tell each other, what each must already know…” Why do we engage in this apparently superficial small talk? Mutually rejoicing over “good” weather or bonding over the shared discomfort of “bad weather” serves as a social glue, helping us find a sense of relief when we collectively complain about how sweaty-meltingly hot or grey, grim and rainy it is; and so we bound over the shared discomfort we are all experiencing together at the same time, even with the stranger we know nothing else about. Weather affects our moods and how we feel, and small talk of the weather can make us feel better about the heat and humidity. So how can we embrace the duality of small talk as a platform for deeper conversations about the bigger picture of increasingly hot weather and changing climates?
Knowing that the words we choose shape our thinking, we can make talking about the weather more substantial by building global vocabularies that catch up our climate realities and challenges.
Through emerging concepts like weather privilege, we learn that climate change is not a one-size-fits-all across the global north and global south. While in the UK we may be talking about hot weather as an inconvenience and a disruption, in Madagascar there may be less talking about the weather as such compared to talking about tangible impacts of weather such as water scarcity, blackouts or extreme heat affecting water supplies and agriculture.
And what can we learn from weather words in languages apart from English? In India, words like Nautapa (9 days of intense heat up to 45-48C), and the local weather-wisdom of artisans that work early mornings or evenings, contradict the pressure to keep up with the 9-5 working pattern, when it's so hot you might feel like everything’s on fire.
As a global community of conscious creatives, we share the experience of directing our creative pursuits for the good of people and the planet while navigating the pressures of creative industries.
Managing multiple projects in our busy lives and practices is a common experience among creatives.
We may have heard the term, "don't put all your eggs in one basket"- a small warning not to rely on one sole thing to carry you forward. Whether it's working on new projects, reaching out to collaborators, or starting a new business endeavor, we are often encouraged to shoot our shot at everything in order to see what sticks. But how can we juggle so many eggs without cracking another?
It is easy to get overwhelmed, being pulled in multiple directions seemingly all at once. What happens if we have many eggs in many baskets, but have yet to see the payoff? How do we decide whether to keep trying, let go, or shift gears? How do you determine which projects to put more time and energy towards? Can we do it all?
Eventually we learn to understand each egg, what is achievable now and what needs more time, what to take on and when, and what is “not yet”. There will be changes and shifts. Each egg has its own life force, energy, and needs. Over time, you will begin to understand your own rhythms and the eggs will become interconnected and support each other. Sometimes you have to look after one egg to grow another.
You never know where your path will lead. Remember that in having many eggs in many baskets, one egg could turn into something else. Be patient and open to the evolution of your journey.
We share parts of our journey with those around us, but how do we trust the receiving end of our shared experiences?
In a world where vulnerability is often commodified or misinterpreted, sharing becomes a political and emotional act. To truly communicate across differences, we must practice awareness, slowness, and curiosity. These are not passive states, but deliberate strategies that make space for the complexity of our lives.
There is collective power in naming and sharing the grey areas: those undefined spaces between the personal and professional, the emotional and the political, the internal and the visible. When we do this, we resist binary expectations and reclaim narrative agency.
Language is power. The words we choose shape the stories we tell. Terms from Trash Club like "trusting the void," "behind the facade," and "fear space" offer shared metaphors—tools to voice that which is often difficult to explain. These words empower us to articulate our discomfort, our resilience, and our transformation.
Community holds different meanings across cultures:
In Singapore, ideas like “kampung spirit” and “gotong royong” express communal resilience and mutual care.
In India, words like “rangrez” (dyer), “bunkar” (weaver), and “chhipa” (printer) reflect deep intergenerational identities woven into the fabric of life, where community is bound by skill, material, and ancestry.
As designers and creatives, we often centralise our cultural heritage in our work. Yet, we simultaneously feel the pressure to conform to Western standards of professionalism, taste, or even innovation.
To counter this, we must:
Recognise the nuances in how we live, work, and create.
Acknowledge the present moment; our positionality, limitations, and desires.
And understand the agency we hold within our means, no matter how constrained or unconventional they may be.
Leaning on others is not weakness, it is wisdom. Building trust, both in the people around us and in the structures we co-create, is a radical and ongoing act. The Trash Talks offer us a space to share, listen and reflect across languages, time zones, and professional practices. Join us in the Members Forum and let's keep the conversations going.
*This post has been collectively co-authored by Trash Club members and Trash Talks hosts: Anabel Poh Zhi Ru, Bhaavya Goenka, Charlie Derbaer and Kayla Antonevich. Edited by Charlie Derbaer*
Thanks again for a beautifully crafted review of all the wonderful conversations taking place in Trash Talks.
‘Small talk’ is such an interesting topic, seen here as a place to begin deeper conversations. Certainly, culturally, there are significant traditions and expected norms and as a Scot living in Aus my natural go to has always been the weather. This post has reminded me that patience in conversation can be the key to allowing the space for meaningful discussion to grow.