Looking for underlying assumptions and messages in a song like The Twelve Days of Christmas can also provide a source of inspiration and reflection.
This carol is about Sharing, perhaps even the Joy of Sharing.
On the Third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
A similar message can be found in this Christmas ad where the importance of helping others and sharing things at the Festive Season is highlighted.
An underlying assumption about the Festive Season is often that we should share things with our family and friends. Yet the idea of sharing to a a small circle of can be challenged. And what we are sharing can also be challenged. Making an extreme suggestion, a provocation, can jump start our thinking. It is important to explicitly say that you are making a provocation, so that you do not upset people which can have the opposite effect, i.e. negatively influence the thinking.
The hand in the photo below is sharing some Cloudberries or the gold of the forest.
What if we could share the resources that nature is providing us to spread joy in our community?
What if we could share the resources that nature is providing us to spread joy around the globe?
Some thoughts that can be explored.
- What can you share to bring joy to other humans/animals?
- Why would you share it?
- Who can you share it with?
- How can you share the joy?
- When can you share it?
- Where can you share it?
These simple questions, the Five W’s (plus how), is a simple tool to get ideas and explore a topic. Katerva is a site with a mission “to create a global community interested in finding and accelerating the spread of the world’s most promising sustainable innovations”.
What if ideas that emerge from your kitchen table this Festive Season could make a difference?