The Little Things

September 15, 2009

Ideas, ideas, ideas. Everyone is searching (especially in the design arena) to come up withe something fresh, new, original. Where do we get inspiration? How do we keep moving forward? Actually… how do we stay motivated?

According to my father, a general contractor and business man:”Competition makes me better.”

I find this true in almost every field of a capitalistic society.

But besides the drive that competition puts behind our efforts… where can we get these new ideas? Thin air? Hopefully not… A friend of mine said once that he likes to create something new every day. Just one thing. No matter how small or big. Or how long it took. A sketch, an essay, a poem, a story, a photograph, a painting, a song. Anything. Make something that no one else can make but you. No one else sees the world the way you do. It would be depressing and boring if we all had the same opinion about everything. Or if we did everything the same way, all day, everyday.

Random doesn’t have to be chaotic.

It doesn’t have to be correct or even “good.” At the end of the day you can say that you made something interesting. And it’s yours.

A lot of times we lose sight of how interesting the little things in life are. We get distracted or lazy and stop functioning. Our awareness is decreased. At a certain age, we are encouraged to stop being silly and stop using our imagination. Why is that? Don’t kids have a heck of a lot more fun than adults? Heck yes they do!

Ok, adults have jobs and responsibility and busy schedules. Understandable. But I think i’d make time to use my imagination to entertain myself than just watching TV at night. We have all these modern conveniences that make our daily lives quicker and easier. So quick and easy in fact that sometimes we just don’t know what to do with ourselves… so we default to the TV or the Radio or the INTERNET. Maybe the internet is actually what is killing community.

We don’t talk to each other anymore. It’s easier to disengage and communicate via technology. Because it’s easier, yes. I love technology. But what are we losing in the process? The human race moves faster and faster towards some technological awesomeness everyday. But what about the old things?

I don’t know…