Bricolage
What can a blanket teach us about environmental stewardship and building community? Dr. Gabor Sass thinks it means nothing. And everything.
One of Dr. Gabor Sass's favourite stories is an old folk tale about a blanket, lovingly crafted for a newborn by his grandfather.
"This little boy gets a beautiful blanket, and over the years it gets torn and everything and mom's like, 'oh, you got to throw it out', 'No, no, I love this.'
And then he goes to grandpa, who's a tailor, and then grandpa makes something, maybe a jacket out of it, but then that gets also worn and has to be thrown away. 'No, no, no, I love this jacket.' And then grandpa keeps on, kind of making something out of nothing, out of rags.
He fashions a tie and then the whole cloth gets smaller and smaller.
In the end, the blanket that was consistently reinvented into many other thing finds its final form: it becomes a story about a blanket that became many other things."
- Dr. Gabor Sass
Dr. Sass was referring to his work with The PATCH and this story informs a core pillar of his philosophy of environmental stewardship: Bricolage.
Oxford Reference defines bricolage as
"The appropriation of pre-existing materials that are ready-to-hand to create something new,"
but it also extends and applies to what we're doing with GrowAbility.
Our podcasts (video and audio), along with the ideas and stories that populate this site are created from nothing other than the innovation and generosity of our community. We benefit from those who bring wisdoms born of their experiences blended with the commitment and dedication of storytellers and craftspeople.
Most recently, we'd like to shout out to the generosity of Jennifer Routley at Siskinds LLP, and a group of remarkable first-year students from Fanshawe College, organized by Janice Robertson, without whom our first season of The GrowAbility Podcast would have been near impossible.
There is much more to come, so to ensure you're getting our Fresh & Nutritious Newsletter, subscribe to our site using the button at the bottom right corner of this page. If you want to learn more about the benefits of a free (for now) subscription, we've got you covered on our Why Subscribe page.
If you want to get in touch with us to suggest a person or an idea, offer feedback, or learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact us.
Whatever your reason for being at GrowAbility, welcome and we hope you enjoy what we've got growing for you!