A man, a donkey, and a child

July 6, 2020 | Culturally Enriched Communities | CEC Numbers

Dear colleagues,

Many of us are struggling to make sense of our times, to decide what to take on and what to leave out or what to say and how to say it. All that can be exhausting. In a recent BBC article on “The real reason lockdown is exhausting,” Kathleen Vohs, a University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management professor who studies decision-making, noted that “….when you’re having to not only make decisions in a new context, but in a context that’s not very well suited for those decisions to be made, supported or enacted, you’re going to see people really get fatigued.” She cited a study which showed that it’s the decisions we perceive as involving the most psychological trade-offs or compromises that are really exhausting.

This is where the tale of “A man, a donkey, and a child” comes in:

Once upon a time, a man set out to visit a city, with a donkey and a child. The man, placed the child on the donkey and when they arrived at the first village, people said: “Why do you have the child on the donkey? You are old and fragile, you should be the one sitting on the donkey.” So, the man sat on the donkey and when they arrived at the next village, people said: “You are such a mean person. How can you do that to a child?” The man decided that both of them would now sit on the donkey and when they arrived at the next village, people said: “Are you trying to kill the donkey? Can’t you see, the poor thing cannot carry you both?” As a last resort, he figured they would just walk alongside the donkey and when they got to the next village, people said: “What a waste, you have a donkey and do not use it at all.”

Below, I reflect on lessons from the story that can guide our decision-making as we move forward.

Also, Landscapes of Hope now has over 150 buildings and places from the Twin Cities highlighted. And, the COVID-19 page is constantly being updated as countries re-open and as more information on vulnerable populations is gathered.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, Editor
[email protected]

EMBRACE THE JOURNEY – IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE STRAIGHT-FORWARD