Division is, in fact, optional.
We can choose a different way.
And it’s not as hard as we’re making it.
To help end the divisive ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality plaguing our world, this campaign was inspired by a podcast I produced with my dad. Although we disagree on several significant issues, we value our connection more than our differences. Some would say that’s because we are family, yet I believe the same conditions can be orchestrated within our human society so we don’t allow ‘differences’ to create division. This realization is at the forefront of this campaign.
About the Logo
I find the tradition of competing for good luck by snapping the wishbone of a Thanksgiving turkey to be barbaric and uncivilized. We engage in it because it’s tradition, something that an ancient civilization considered a good idea. We continue this brutish custom solely because it’s “what we’ve always done.”
This mentality is widespread in our global societies, where we persist in believing and acting based on tradition or how we have “always done” things. In many cases, this no longer benefits us as individuals or as a society.
This campaign logo depicts the right clavicle bone as riveted, suggesting a possible fracture while appearing whole. The riveted section implies that deciding to fracture the curved bone is optional.
The color palette was selected to honor nature's healing qualities and the psychological effects of green, which evoke a sense of balance and harmony—the goal of this campaign.
The Campaign
The DIVISION IS OPTIONAL campaign acts as a bridge of compassion and reason for individuals from all walks of life, particularly those who often disagree or hold differing perspectives.
This campaign highlights that we often choose the division we experience by engaging in live and pre-recorded conversations with people who don’t share the same perspectives as us, uncovering perspectives that may not have been apparent or fully revealed before these conversations.
The ultimate aim of these conversations is to create a cooperative environment that leads to unity or, at the very least, a more realistic understanding of the individual or subject causing the division.
Interesting Data About Division
-
Identity and Belonging: National, racial, and cultural identities play significant roles in how people view themselves and others. This often starts in the family.
Political Polarization: Political divisions are increasingly common, with strong party loyalty influencing such division. Our consumption of the news media and our family dynamics add to this divisive narrative.
Social Conditioning: Cultural narratives and societal norms reinforce division, particularly around topics that religious institutions can create disparities around.
Competition for Resources: Economic inequality and competition for jobs and opportunities perpetuate division, particularly in times of economic uncertainty, leading to tension between social class and demographics.
-
It is believed to have been a spiritual practice of rubbing the dried collarbone of a dead bird for good luck.; a practice that dates back 2,400 years with the Etruscan people of Italy. The Romans made the ritual into the barbaric act it is today of snapping the bone being what determined good luck to whomever snapped off MORE of the bone.
Do we see a pattern yet? -
Even religious books depict competition and wars over land and property (sadly and horrifically, some of that ‘property’ was women.
The old texts champion ‘dominion’ over things, retell stories about family members killing, tricking or deceiving one another over perceived lack or favoritism.
Seeing any other patterns here? -
It may appear too simple to be true, but follow this campaign as we deconstruct any and all division into a single seed source that is driving it all.
That source?
Fear.
Join us in the effort to bring
unity to a divided humanity.
Support this movement by purchasing this DIVISION IS OPTIONAL 12 oz. Insulated Stainless Steel Coffee Tumbler
Grab the coffee tumbler that reminds us of an essential truth as you make your life story explorations, or grab a quiet fireside moment.
This hot or cold insulated coffee tumbler has a stainless steel straw and a straw cleaner (which, in my day, we called a “pipe cleaner.”)