(Daily) Delight~Disrupt
A chance to spark delight in our lives, while reconnecting with each other and nature #DailyDelightDisrupt
The problem
Contemporary social and environmental problems can feel complex, insurmountable and disempowering.
But what if we reconnected to turn these problems around? And we did so through simple, collective and delightful moments with all our playful moments adding up to a massive shift in our attitudes and action toward each other and our planet.
Our strategy
(Daily) Delight~Disrupt cultivates a grassroots movement of delightful, repeatable and scalable weekly practices to generate massive social and environmental change through connection, commitment and care. These playful moments focused through themed days of the week (e.g., Tree-hugging Tuesdays, Feast Fridays, Screen-free Sundays) promote and experientially manifest creative and restorative ways of being, disrupting the destructive status quo.
(Daily) Delight~Disrupt is a viral social movement of personal embodied playful actions that allows people to reconnect with each other and the places they care about. -Dr. John Carr, project co-lead.
Our progress
The project team has developed a library of playful moments for each day of the week and an easy and fun platform for individuals, groups and organisations to spread delightful disruption.
Every day of the week is an opportunity to grow the world we want while leaning into the pleasure of reconnecting with each other and our environment. -Prof. Tema Milstein,project co-lead.
Our calendar of daily delights
#ScreenFreeSundays
A day for human and nature connections, not Wi-Fi connections. Unplug to reclaim your attention and time.
- Party platform throw a no-screen dance party. Check everybodys tech at the door. Let loose!
- Sunrise/sunset watch with a friend. Take a mental photo.
- Look up! make eye contact. Take out the ear buds. Put your phone away. Start a conversation with someone new. Scroll the sky.
- De-tech to reconnect - team up with friends. Add a screen-free hour to this day every week, until you have a whole day free to enjoy.
- Sleepyhead think the internet is weird? Try what your brain comes up with when you nap. Enjoy the original, all natural, no guilt, hallucinatory
#MinimalismMondays
A day to indulge. Life has gotten too complicated - spend less, enjoy more, at no cost to you or the planet.
- Swap it out host a workplace/neighbour/friend clothes swap. Refill your wardrobe with only things you love.
- Maintain & gain give some love to a tool or object you use a lot. Clean, lubricate, decorate it.
- One thing leave home with only one item, such as your phone or wallet, and experience a whole day footloose and fancy free.
- Give it away gift one of your belongings to somebody who will use and appreciate it.
#TreeHuggingTuesdays
Reconnect and let nature recharge you.
- Barefoot break grab a friend, go outside, take off your shoes, and feel the earth as it feels you back. Scientifically proven to improve mental and physical health. Reimagine and relish how we move within this big wide world.
- Time to smell/feel/taste/hear/see the roses run your hands over rocks and bark of trees, dance in the rain, close your eyes and listen to sounds near and far.
- Surprise soil throw seeds leftover from fruit into a soil pot in your kitchen or dig your food waste into the garden. See what grows!
#WayfindingWednesdays
Reimagine - and relish - how we move within this big world.
- Get lost do a deliberate wander without a map. Notice where you are pulled (and go there) and repulsed (and dont go there). Enjoy new experiences, ask people for directions.
- Transit lottery - jump on a bus/train/ferry you dont normally use. See where it takes you.
- Delight in the new each week, make a mental map of new-to-you delightful places (a pocket park, a funky alleyway). Today, go to one.
- Ditch the car try a new transit mode, ranging from motor-free to public. Note how your experience deepens or broadens. Invite others for an alterna- commute party to work or school.
#ThankfulThursdays
Let's bliss out. Lean into gratitude for Earth and each other.
- Award season think of somebody (or something!) you appreciate and thank them. Or give a stranger a sincere compliment.
- Insta-disco find a place outside. Bring music. Dance freestyle with friends. Invite passers-by to join in.
- HumAnimal befriend another animal, critter, or bug. Build trust. Enjoy being befriended back.
- Gratitude graffiti chalk a positive message on the sidewalk (e.g. Feel the love in every step).
#FeastFridays
We all eat. Let's cook up delight beyond the meal.
- Stone soup party collective cooking. Just a pot, water, and stove. Friends each bring one ingredient they already have for the pot. Funny and likely delicious.
- Forage food is growing everywhere and goes uneaten. Learn to identify, respectfully gather, and cook plants where you live. Draw chalk signs with names and arrows to edible plants growing along the sidewalk to spread knowledge.
- Delight your neighbours when you bake, make enough to share.
#ChooseYourOwnAdventureSaturdays
Here's your chance to freestyle. The sky's the limit.
Animated illustrations by Dani Kimball.
Our impact
The project team has grown from just two to more than fifty volunteers, partners and (Daily) Delight~Disrupt Club members at UNSW. The concept has been met with enthusiasm from industry, government and communities.
SBS invited the team to activate their employees for Earth Day and the City of Sydney Council invited them to activate people inside and outside Sydney Town Hall. And, partnering with more than a dozen campus organisations, (Daily) Delight~Disrupt helped bring their radically simple and fun way to enhance well-being to UNSWs Mental Health Month.
Through volunteers and early adopters, the project has spread to countries as diverse as Germany, Iran and China. These events have further developed the concept and augmented its impact, informing plans to continue scaling up to enable systems change at national and global scales.
I've been researching and teaching ecoculture jams for two decades. These embodied playful collective experiences enable a profound shift in people's belief in their ability to make positive change. The act of ecoculture jamming itself creates transformative experiences in which people co-create a better more caring and connected world. - Prof. Milstein.
So, try out being a delightful disruptor! Pick a theme day and playful moment idea that delight you, and turn up the restorative disruption in your life or your organisation. Partner with this project to enhance your organisations connection, effectiveness and creativity.
