Mad Hatter Tea Party

Last week, the Coralus team gathered in person over two and a half days to ground ourselves in the realities we’re navigating, deepening community, and dreaming into what’s next. 

Setting the Table

During our last dinner together, we went offsite to host a “Mad Hatter Tea Party”. This playful experiment in gathering, imagination, and collective sense-making was an invitation to think differently and create unexpected connections by changing the conditions of the room. 

Many of us are moving through a moment shaped by uncertainty, exhaustion, and rapid change; where the future feels both urgent and hard to imagine. Instead of agendas and answers, we set the table with curiosity, metaphor, and a willingness to think sideways. 

We arrived at Bampot Tea House in Toronto in playful attire (think hats, opera gloves, costume jewels).

We loosened the pace and the “rules of conversation”.

We replaced performance with presence and certainty with curiosity.

And then we introduced a series of surreal, metaphor-rich prompts… not as riddles to solve, but as invitations to wander together.

Playful Questions, Multiple Wisdoms

We offered prompts designed to loosen certainty, defy linear logic, and invite shared sensing through multiple wisdoms. If an answer didn’t arrive through writing or words, participants were welcomed to draw, gesture, or make meaning in other ways.

Some of the questions we explored:

• If we could only sense what’s emerging by dancing with our shadows, what would they whisper about what we’re avoiding?
• If we could only understand the conditions for the future by asking a squirrel, what would we whisper to it?
• If transformation could arrive sideways rather than head-on, how would we notice it?
• What are we noticing that doesn’t yet have language?
• If we could only build the future by planting spoons in the garden, what would grow and who would harvest it?

What Emerged

Within these conditions, we found ourselves naming things that don’t often surface in more structured settings: subtle shifts in energy, unspoken tensions, new forms of care, and futures that can be sensed before they can be articulated. This is one way we can practice the future together.

The Mad Hatter Tea Party isn’t just an escape. It’s a rehearsal — practicing how we might meet complexity with creativity, humility, and the wisdom that already exists in the room..

Your Invitation (Should You Choose to Play…)

You don’t need a room full of people to begin. A cup of tea and an open mind will do. 

Try one of the questions above. Let yourself answer without editing. Notice what surprises you. Notice what feels alive.

For a Deeper Dive

This practice shared by Hilary Van Welter has been evolving over time. We also hosted a Mad Hatter Tea Party at the Coralus (un)Summit last year, where it emerged as a playful focus group for Timmy of Pause for Tea.  Watch more here.