Brainstorm on a secular harvest holiday

[G Ray]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Btl0HLDtSsOqDF2TFX8lNK1MFmahCAUIHcYzu9GmIik/edit?usp=sharing

Here's some brainstorming on a fall harvest holiday, including why one might prefer to celebrate something other than Thanksgiving, providing a Schelling time for a really important practical activity, and of course, food and community. The holiday is themed around thankfulness, plenty, and disaster preparation. I'd love feedback or thoughts! (Feel free to leave comments on the google doc, or reply here.)

[Jacob Kopczynski]

As described here, this is just Weird Scrupulosity Thanksgiving. Which is about as likely to get anyone to enjoy it as Newtonmas. It will be an obligation to some people, a thing done to indulge friends by their friends, and ignored by everyone else.

If you want a harvest holiday that is not Thanksgiving, don't structure it like or at the same time of year as Thanksgiving. August, the equinox, and November are all historically appropriate as harvest festival times; two of the three are open in modern secular-cosmopolitan society.

On Jan 17, 2018 09:49, "G Ray" <geo....@gmail.com> wrote:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Btl0HLDtSsOqDF2TFX8lNK1MFmahCAUIHcYzu9GmIik/edit?usp=sharing

Here's some brainstorming on a fall harvest holiday, including why one might prefer to celebrate something other than Thanksgiving, providing a Schelling time for a really important practical activity, and of course, food and community. The holiday is themed around thankfulness, plenty, and disaster preparation. I'd love feedback or thoughts! (Feel free to leave comments on the google doc, or reply here.)

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[Brent Dill]

We have a secular harvest festival, and it's called Burning Man.

[G Ray]

@Brent - If it works as that for you, that's awesome, but my understanding of Burning Man is:

A) In late summer, not fall

B) Not a harvest festival or harvest-themed

C) Costs at least several hundred dollars and a week of time, and only happens in one place

[Fu's Truly]

I'm not sure how I feel about the focus on preparation and tackling unpleasant tasks like updating your disaster kit (without more ritual or more of a sense of coordination surrounding it, like an event at some sort of community center that culminates in festivities afterward or something?), but the intro justification is something I hadn't thought about and I think is an excellent point. A holiday that is more friendly to our sphere of community values to celebrate on or around Thanksgiving that serves a lot of the same social functions as Thanksgiving sounds like such great relatively low-hanging fruit. (I almost object to not having it on Thanksgiving day, but only almost.)

[Jacob Kopczynski]

Personally, I think Thanksgiving is perfectly friendly already.