• Home
  • shop
  • Illustration Portfolio
  • About
  • My Books

Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Tolerations Update: April + May

May 27, 2014

tolerations-aprilmay1

The thing about declaring something publicly is that even if nobody else remembers, I do. I’m talking about my monster list of tolerations, naturally. Those pesky little buggers that would free up so much mental clutter if I’d just hunker down and deal with them. I started bold and strong in January and since then, each consecutive month has seen a marked dwindling of productivity.

I clocked in with ZERO tolerations-busting for the month of April, but I’m okay with this. April was an especially busy month. And so far in May, I’ve only crossed off two items, but at least these were long-standing ones that I’m happy to have accomplished.

tolerations-aprilmay2

First off, I finally got new glasses. I accidentally sat on my old pair about two years ago (don’t ask) and never bothered to replace them. I’m blinder than a mole, and have been since I was a little kid. I think I read too many books in the dark, way past any acceptable bedtime. I’ve been wearing contacts for at least two decades, and I prefer them to glasses. At night though, up until two years ago, I used to wear glasses to read just before falling asleep.

Anyway. I like these and it’s nice not to have to squint while reading at night. I’ll show you a picture of what they look like on at some point, but I’m especially fond of the colorful case (Kate Spade! So fancy!). Rather stylish, no?

tolerations-aprilmay3

Also on the semi-fashiony side of things, I have at long last stretched out my beloved Cydwoq boots that I got ridiculously cheap (full story here), but due to my cankles and robust calves, I’ve been unable to zip them up. I tried various suggestions and used a broom handle to add some ease (unsuccessful), attempted to force-stretch them by wearing ’em several days in a row (painful and awful), etc. etc. Since DIY wasn’t producing any results, I dropped them off at my neighborhood cobbler and in a week they came back with roomier ankles and calves. In fact I wore them with my district 12 dress last week!

tolerations-aprilmay4

So I started out with 108 items on my tolerations list, and I’m down to 68. I’m currently working on re-organizing my sewing area and that’s a big, big one on my list. Let’s hope June is a more fruitful month. I have to say though, overall, working on these tolerations really helps. I feel a lightening, and a sense of increased freedom as I mend, purge, clean, replace, prettify or organize, albeit slowly. Ah, feels good.

Filed in: life • by sanae • 15 Comments

Comments

  1. sarah

    May 27, 2014 at 8:02 am

    I really liked your Tolerations post and keep meaning to do my own list. It’s a great idea! Mental clutter can be so challenging to deal with. Even though I don’t have a list, I did take care of a couple of things that had been nagging at me over the weekend and I feel so great today! Thanks for the update.

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 27, 2014 at 4:20 pm

      Isn’t it the best feeling to get those niggling backburner to-dos out of the way? Even if you don’t have an official written list, Sarah, I think we all have a running list in our heads, and it sounds like you’re tackling the stuff – awesome!

      Reply
  2. Kristi Andres

    May 27, 2014 at 8:23 am

    That is about how my monthly room redo is going… I started off strong and it’s getting weaker. But stuff is still happening so I’m happy! 🙂

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 27, 2014 at 4:21 pm

      It’s always that way, isn’t it? I’m raring to go in the beginning of the year on all fronts and by the middle of the year, I tend to lose steam. At least we’re still chugging along! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Nicole

    May 27, 2014 at 9:25 am

    Ooooh, I love the glasses! I want them.

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 27, 2014 at 4:22 pm

      These glasses are really great! When I put them on, the girl at the shop said, “Oh, that’s the one,” so I took her word for it and I’m glad I did.

      Reply
  4. crab&bee

    May 27, 2014 at 11:32 am

    Cobblers are miracle workers!

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 27, 2014 at 4:24 pm

      They are indeed! I found out that stretching isn’t something all cobblers do though, and the first one I went to rejected me. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lucinda

    May 27, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    so May may not have been the most productive month is terms of reducing tolerations, but gentle on yourself – you WERE productive in many other ways! And look – that list of tolerations is going down, rather than up. Surely that progress is encouraging:) Congrats on wear-able boots – I remember how much you wanted them to fit!

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 27, 2014 at 4:27 pm

      Thanks Lucinda! Yep, even though I wasn’t rip-roaring on the tolerations list these couple of months, I do feel like I front-loaded in the beginning of the year so I’m pretty happy 🙂

      Reply
  6. Ute

    May 27, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    Congrats! From 108 to 68 is pretty good! And there is a bonus: It makes ME feel good too! Just reading about you working on your tolerations list also gives me a sense of acomplishment (and encouragement!). Weird but good! Thank you!

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 27, 2014 at 4:29 pm

      Yay, I’m glad it gives you a sense of accomplishment too, Ute! I do think it’s a super useful exercise to chip away at all the little annoying things that often get bypassed. It might not look like it on the blog front, but I’m getting a lot done lately and I think it’s because of reduced mental jumble.

      Reply
  7. Bella

    May 28, 2014 at 5:06 am

    That’s a pretty impressive reduction in tolerations as it stands! Keep up the good work, you’ll be half way before you know it. Put on a good podcast for the sewing area clean up and you’ll be away laughing. Fresh Air is my all time fave but what about Strangers or Stuff You Should Know? The New Yorker Out Loud podcast is great too. You didn’t ask for tolerations soundtrack suggestions but a great interview or story always boosts my productivity! Or a Brahms symphony…

    Reply
    • sanae

      May 28, 2014 at 5:53 pm

      Love Stuff You Should Know! Josh and Chuck are so funny 🙂 Fresh Air is on my to-listen list for sure. I’ve not heard of Strangers and I think I’ve only listened to one TNYOL podcast and remember liking it a lot! Thanks for the recommendations, Bella!

      Reply
  8. Tara

    May 30, 2014 at 4:49 am

    Ever since you mentioned these tolerstions, I’ve been eyeballing certain parts of the home landscape with suspicion. Places that I have left untended, disorganized, or unfinished for so long that I don’t even consciously notice anymore unless in stop and think about it. Then I realize that the mere knowledge of them does make my brain feel crazy. Occasionally I see one of the tolerstions and I actually stop what I’m doing and tell myself to “just fucking deal with it now!” Half of the time I don’t finish, and make things worse than when I started (fabric stash. Always gets spread around to “organize” it and then stays an exploded mess) but at least there’s sooooome effort happening?…….

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address below to get blog posts delivered to your in-box. I'll occasionally include fun digital goodies!

Order My New Book!!

Order My Latest Sewing Book!!

Archives

Categories

I designed a bespoke set of fabrics for my upcomin I designed a bespoke set of fabrics for my upcoming GOOD NIGHT, NINJAS book launch (two more weeks!!). They’re not publicly available on Spoonflower at this time, but if there’s interest, I’ll pop it on there. Let me know in the comments! Now to do some super secret ninja sewing….🥷🥷🧵🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Theme by Blog Pixie

© 2025 Sanae Ishida