Tag Archives: sharing

Sep10

one from many.

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i recently made a wonderful discovery

when playing with a couple of my grandies 

at the park across the street from my house.

the people in my local community

who visit the park or live nearby 

have begun

to purposely

leave toys behind 

for any and all children to play with.

what a simple, powerful, and generous act

 what an amazing way to teach children gratitude

and

the importance

of sharing what we have

with others in the world

who may not have as much. 

—
“the essence of community, its heart and soul,

is the non-monetary exchange of value;

things we do and share because we care for others,

and for the good of the place.”

― dee hock, One from Many

Mar6

sweaters.

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“we shared ideas like sweaters,

with easy exchange and lack of ownership.”

― ann patchett, truth and beauty

—

credits: getty images, mental floss

Apr25

sharing the same meal reaffirms kinship. – deng ming-dao

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and what cat

could resist

the sharing

of

fingertips

full of

sweet and magical dots

called

astronaut ice cream?

Nov27

happy thanksgiving: rituals, relatives and rolls.

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7 Overlooked Thanksgiving Rituals,

According to Sociologists

The first major sociological study of Thanksgiving appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research in 1991. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with people about their experiences of the holiday.

They also had 100 students take detailed fieldnotes on their Thanksgiving celebrations, supplemented by photographs. The data analysis revealed some common events in the fieldnotes that people rarely remarked on in the interviews. Here are some Thanksgiving rituals you might not realize are rituals:

1. THE GIVING OF THE JOB ADVICE
Teenagers are given a ritual status shift to the adult part of the family, not only through the move from the kids’ table to the grownup table, but also through the career counseling spontaneously offered by aunts, uncles, and anyone else with wisdom to share.

2. THE FORGETTING OF THE INGREDIENT
Oh no! I forgot to put the evaporated milk in the pumpkin pie! As the authors of the Thanksgiving study state, “since there is no written liturgy to insure exact replication each year, sometimes things are forgotten.” In the ritual pattern, the forgetting is followed by lamentation, reassurance, acceptance, and the restoration of comfortable stability. It reinforces the themes of abundance (we’ve got plenty even if not everything works out) and family togetherness (we can overcome obstacles).

3. THE TELLING OF DISASTER STORIES OF THANKSGIVINGS PAST
Remember that time we cooked a green bean casserole and burned the house down? Another way to reinforce the theme of family togetherness is to retell the stories of things that have gone wrong at Thanksgiving and then laugh about them. This ritual can turn ugly, however, if not everyone has gotten to the point where they find the disaster stories funny.

4. THE REAPPROPRIATION OF THE STORE-BOUGHT ITEMS
Transfer a store-bought pie crust to a bigger pan, filling out the extra space with pieces of another store-bought pie crust, and it’s not quite so pre-manufactured anymore. Put pineapple chunks in the Jello, and it becomes something done “our way.” The theme of the importance of the “homemade” emerges in the ritual of slightly changing the convenience foods to make them less convenient.

5. THE PET’S MEAL
The pet is fed special food while everyone looks on and takes photos. This ritual enacts the theme of inclusion also involved in the inviting of those with “nowhere else to go.”

6. THE PUTTING AWAY OF THE LEFTOVERS
In some cultures, feasts are followed by a ritual destruction of the surplus. At Thanksgiving the Puritan value of frugality is embodied in the wrapping and packing up of all the leftovers.

7. THE WALKING
After the eating and the groaning and the belly patting, someone will suggest a walk and a group will form to take a stroll. Sometimes the walkers will simply do laps around the house, but they often head out into the world to get some air. There is usually no destination involved, just a desire to move and feel the satisfied quietness of abundance – and to make some room for dessert.

—

credits: mental floss magazine, the graphics fairy

Jan13

‘Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?’ – Matt Groening

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image credit: wwll vintage gas ration ad

i love my carpool.  there are only two of us, but any more than one living thing in a car at the same time, and i consider it a pool. on most days, we drive together to and from school, in our cars with character –  mine is ‘diablo rojo,’ and m’s is ‘sharfonda.’ driving together has many benefits: not only do we save money on gas, and help preserve a smidgen of the world’s energy supply, but the company is wonderful.

we are very much alike, and talk about everything. and make up poetry and tell stories and laugh and go off on tangents and share philosophies and cry and sing. and get lost occasionally, as neither of us has an innate sense of direction. we compare our students, ‘m’ teaches english and poetry at our high school and i, on the opposite end of the spectrum, teach kindergarten in our lower school. even so, we find that many of our student and family and teaching issues are very similar, and we listen and support each other and offer advice. our drive usually takes us about 45 minutes, if all is well along the way, and we don’t end up in some place we hadn’t planned on.  

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but – on some days, things happen. life may be challenging, we are worrying about someone or something, there are issues on the road, there is a tornado watch, a blizzard, a rain squall, or construction events, or we feel like we are driving through a video game, and we have had it, and need some extra support.

we discovered our cure one day, when it had been a particularly challenging drive.  and m suddenly yelled out, ‘quick, turn in! it’s a tim horton’s and we need to go there now!’ i was behind the wheel, and diablo rojo did as requested. as we entered the drive-through we decided that we needed (and deserved), a few ‘tim-bits’ (delicious tiny donut holes), to help us make it the rest of the way and to instantly give us a pick me up.  we quickly scanned the menu options:

Timbits:

10 pack –  1.50    

20 pack –  2.50

40 pack –  4.75

we decided it was a 40 timbits kind of day.

 and we were soon on our way, making up timbit haiku and laughing once again. 

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image credit: http://www.newswire.ca

Chef Andrea Nicholson, of Top Chef Canada, with the Tim Hortons Timbits cake she created.

Nearly four feet tall, the cake contains more than 1,500 Timbits.  

for chef andrea, it was a 1,500 timbits kind of day, must have been a tough one.

— 

But friendship is the breathing rose, with sweets in every fold. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

 

 

 

Nov18

water fills up empty spaces

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and as the unseasonable heavy rains and storms continue today, i am reminded of a wonderful event a few summers back. i was with my family at a large amusement park. it was beautiful out, without a cloud in the sky and we walked around, like most other people that day, staying within our group, enjoying the park and enjoying the day. suddenly, without much warning, the sky grew very dark and raindrops began to fall. as the rain became heavier, people began to take shelter under whatever they could find, planning to wait it  out. 

within minutes, the rain became quite out of control, with an onslaught of hard, sideways, piercing water. it was relentless. and  it quickly became obvious that it was useless to even attempt to stay dry. little by little, everyone began to come out from under their makeshift ‘shelters’, take off wet shirts, and shoes and whatnot, and just fully immerse themselves in the rain, some literally laid in it, as the ground fiooded so quickly, like a warm and wild jacuzzi. there was really no choice but to surrender to it all, and people began to openly laugh and jump and play and dance and embrace the rain. strangers bonded together in full laughter and in this the sudden unexpected experience they had absolutely no control over. all ages, all sizes, all genders, all colors, all human.

after a few more minutes of this, the clouds and the rain moved on, as suddenly as they had arrived, and the sun came back out, bright and yellow, signaling a return to calm. the only clues that it was all real, were the water on the ground, people’s soaked clothing and hair, and the smiles on their faces. soon, people stopped playing, wrung out their clothes, got back in their groups, and walked on. as if it had never happened. it was the highlight of my day.

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow