Soul Repair

Repair cafés are popping up all over the world. You can get your toaster fixed. But what can fix a broken soul?

We live in a "throwaway" culture.

We throw away just about everything.

Not that we haven't noticed. We've been using this expression since LIFE magazine published an article in 1955 about a new phenomenon that emerged in the prosperity of the 1950s. "Throwaway Living" the article was called.

Instead of blowing our noses using washable handkerchiefs (as did our eco-friendly grandmothers), we use tissues and throw them away.

We diaper babies' bottoms, and then throw them away -- the diapers, not the bottoms.

We buy a pair of shoes and throw them away.

We buy water packaged in plastic bottles, drink the water -- and throw the bottles away.

Almost everything we purchase comes in what many call excessive packaging which ... is thrown away.

We buy small and large appliances and when they break down we buy new ones and throw away the old ones.

We buy TVs and throw them away.

In an era long past, small shops existed to repair items that consumers were then loath to throw away. Used to be that a small...