Thriving too

Going Free in 2010

 Above is a photo of my Grandparent's sweetshop in Llanidloes, a town deep in Wales.  The photo shows the lines of people on New Year's Day waiting for a free sweet that they (Mary and Orlando Jones) gave away each year (probably about 60-70 years ago).  I only found out that my Grandparents did this a few months ago and was really thrilled when I did! 

Lauren Currie blogged on 'Are you part of the gift economy?' earlier this week, related in part to blood donation.  She writes: "In the social sciences, a gift economy is a society where valuable goods or services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards."

Another friend, Bruna Martinuzzi, in her book The Leader as Mensch, quoted here by Guy Kawasaki, writes:

Give people gifts other than those that you buy. This means giving someone a second chance, giving someone the benefit of the doubt, and giving others a reason to want to work for you besides earning a living. It entails giving others latitude, permission to make mistakes, and all the information they need to do the job. It means giving them the authority that goes with that responsibility and giving them due credit for their ideas.

Here's to a prosperous .... and, wherever we can.... a free new year!

Every Product Has a Backstory

The video below is a really good interview with Daniel Goleman and Bill Moyers about Goleman's book Ecological Intelligence. The book looks at a variety of new ways of gathering information about products that we use. The book was listed by Time Magazine in March 2009 as one of the ' 10 ideas changing the world right now'. 

The concepts help us go a little deeper into green consumerism. I have just downloaded the iphone application from Good Guide which lists 65,000 products based on their ecological assessment - lots of familiar products rated, but think there is a US focus.  This application even has the ability to process a photo of a bar code and give you a rating.

There are many examples cited in the interview and in the book, but one which seemed particularly striking was that some sunscreens contain chemicals that when washed off in the sea, encourage the growth of some algae which are detrimental to coral reefs.... and that literally thousands of tons of this chemical are estimated to be washed into the sea every year.  As far as being a responsible consumer goes, it seems that a lot of knowledge could take us a long way.

Also interesting in the interview was discussion about how companies will be forced into this type of 'radical transparency' and that social media such as twitter will be carriers and spreaders of information on good and bad about products - you can follow Good Guide on Twitter!

Happy Christmas!

 

Nurturing Relationships

 There is a very insightful article in the Guardian about how important Christmas is for nurturing our relationships with friends and family. Using some data from the new report by the Young Foundation Sinking and swimming: understanding Britain's unmet needs, the article points to the increase in anxiety and depression and how important a renewed sense of connection is at Christmas "Between 1991 and 2007 prescriptions for antidepressants more than trebled. Anxiety and depression are set to double in a generation."

"Both Labour and the Conservatives have already begun to position themselves as the party of the family, but the debate so far has been dominated by ugly jousting over the importance of marriage. This is a dangerous impoverishment of a crucial debate. Contrary to the politicians' rhetoric, the structure of the family is far less important than the quality of its relationships, as a recent Gingerbread report demonstrates. We also need to affirm the importance of all relationships, not just marriage. As society ages, the relationships between young and old will become all the more important. And the importance of relationships goes beyond the intimacies of home, into the public realm."

[Pic: Thank you ribbon from palomasnest]

RSA's Christmas Card

   

Cardboard horses

I love these carboard horses created by Brooklyn arist Ann Wood. Ann cretaes the most wonderful designs, but even better, she sometimes shares her skills with readers of her blog. She mainly works with vintage or salvaged materials and her creations often feature in magazines such as Martha Stewart. Not only is her blog full of inspiration, such as the beautiful birds and gift tags she has designed for Christmas, the comments are worth reading too as an example of a wonderfully open and generous online community - A bit like Thriving Too in fact. Please go ad take a look at Ann's creations and be inspired. It's been a pleasure to contribute here over the past few months and I hope you all have a Happy Christmas.

Direct Descendant

 

London-based architects DSDHA has created this installation in York’s Exhibition Square from 1,000 orange boxes.

Is this a direct descendant of this wonderful project in Castleford?  The Cratehouse in Castleford, Yorkshire, was named one of the top ten works of public art in the U.K last year.

Created by German artists Wolfgang Winter and Berthold Hörbelt, it's made out of hundreds of bottle crates perched on a shipping container.

Via: David Barrie

 

Snook Launches

I am really excited by Snook! It is a new partnership between designers Lauren Currie (who blogs here) and Sarah Drummond. There are going to be some special ideas and projects emerging....

"The idea is to make it easy for people to think differently and work together. And to make it fun and worthwhile too. We want people to think of Snook as an alternative route to their future; like a new way of looking at your every day life, but with the glass always half full."

Back To The Land

Wonderful photo essays from Maira Kalman's 'Back to the Land'

 
 

Beautiful Book Jackets

  

I have a thing for Kraft paper and all things brown at the moment and have just bought some notebooks from Paperchase for the Christmas break... so delighted to see these beautiful book covers by Book City Jackets.

Via: Black Eiffel

If You Could Collaborate

 The If You Could Collaborate exhibition will feature the artwork produced by all 33 pairings at the A Foundation Gallery, Rochelle School in London. The contributors have been challenged to produce something a little unexpected, by working with a partner of their choosing from any discipline, profession or background. 

15 — 24 January 2010, 12–6pm
(open late on 21 January, 12–9pm)
A Foundation Gallery at Rochelle School, London E2 7ES.