A few days ago I got this message in my inbox from my friend Susan:

“Hey Pam –how are you? In circle today an idea came up to play off of the pussy hats and give women something else to create – that was a sign a marker of people in the movement. You came to mind. Is there a way you could design a pin that we could wear like a big safety-pin that had a miniature version of the pussy hat symbol attached to it? So my idea is that could you design something that people could easily make just like the pussy hat went viral? Thoughts?”

So I put my thinking (pussy)-hat on and thought back to my last post about collaboration.  I like the idea that this project could be a way to create a symbol of an alternate collaboration, one where like-minded souls looking build relationships with others who support human rights can easily spot each other. Like-minded souls can create something simple to share and show the way.

And I had an epiphany (as usual, in my hot tub time machine).  I want to offer my Kitty Kollaborator in Kindness Pin. She is part pussy, part heart, with the symbol of safety and she is divinely feminine. Yes, I know, my name for her could be (k)controversial. But, I would love to see a day come when the 3 K’s stood for something positive. So, I am ***(k)co-opting them. (in my last post you learned of my intention to co-opt “collaboration” as building a coalition of like-minded supportive relationships) So, instead I would like to refer to this as the K3 pin. Because if you look at that closely and break it apart, it is like I < 3 ❤ (I heart).  And, I am offering her up as an idea to make and share with everyone on your Valentine’s List. You could even take a picture of her and put her on a few postcards. . .(wink, wink).

And then I went further down this rabbit-hole.  The term “snowflake” has been thrown around as a derogatory term for a (bleeding?) heart liberal who gets easily triggered into melting at the actions of what is seen as “the opposition”. (It’s also been a label put on this generation of young adults viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations.) And recently there has been a false rumor that it was used by the Nazi’s. (See SNOPES.com for the facts) But, I also want to co-opt that symbol. Because we who live in the midwest U.S. know what happens when you get a lot of snowflakes together!  I call it the Snow Storm Pin.  I could call it an SS pin (I know where that is co-opted from too) but, that is too uncomfortable.  I would love to see it created in as many different ways as there are snowflakes. So, please take both of these ideas and CREATE!!!   As Princess Leia said, “take your broken heart and make it into art”.

Need help creating one of these?  Here is are PDF‘s for the K3 Pin and the Snow Storm Pin with pattern shapes and notes.

 

 

***kōˈäpt/ (verb)
1.  appoint to membership of a committee or other body by invitation of the existing members.

• divert to or use in a role different from the usual or original one. “social scientists were co-opted to work with the development agencies”

• adopt (an idea or policy) for one’s own use. “the green parties have had most of their ideas co-opted by bigger parties”