I've moved my blog to WP: idefiningi.wordpress.com
September 4, 2012
design (n.)
I've spent some time navigating design files, designing logos and creating marketing materials for my job. Daily, however, I'm also exposed to design in a different way - a more holistic approach to design perhaps - the design that informs and guides our behaviour.
I've long been thinking about this sort of thing. For months I've observed my own reactions to various asanas in yoga class, which are very much a result of how I'm feeling about other things rather than the postures themselves. Every class, the teacher tells us to breathe through these "difficult" moments, these places of tension, rather than around them.
I've indulged in the convenient thinking that it's important to face challenges like difficult yoga poses dead on without being distracted by what else is going outside them. On certain days, I'll sweat through the difficulty without really observing what my breath is really all about, how it guides my thoughts about my movements and reactions, and how the challenge itself is really something I perceive as difficult rather than something that actually is physically challenging. It's often more of a mental block than a physical one.
This all leads me to a general inspiration I've had lately, to look for the design behind the seemingly obvious, immediate, and simple. With a dose of compassion and a willingness to see more than what just appears in front of us, I think we can really better our lives and ourselves - and hence, those around us. If I'm finding a certain pose challenging, that I generally think should be easy, it may be a result of something else - extra stress I'm dealing with, a lack of sleep or food, my mind wandering off elsewhere because something is keeping me from focusing on the pose.... once I become aware of these things, expectations seem to fall away and the challenge becomes easier to face and breathe through.
There is a design around us, embedded deep, and the more we observe it and try to understand it, the better we'll be able to live with difficult factors and variables. In fact, I think that every challenge is an opportunity to test yourself, as it is a reminder that the design is there - that by listening to it, you'll strive for unity with it - and so even the ugliest and most difficult things in life will align with your rhythm and you'll better embrace them.
(Can you tell I've been reading The Alchemist - which has completely validated a lot of my "listen to the universe" philosophies.)
I've long been thinking about this sort of thing. For months I've observed my own reactions to various asanas in yoga class, which are very much a result of how I'm feeling about other things rather than the postures themselves. Every class, the teacher tells us to breathe through these "difficult" moments, these places of tension, rather than around them.I've indulged in the convenient thinking that it's important to face challenges like difficult yoga poses dead on without being distracted by what else is going outside them. On certain days, I'll sweat through the difficulty without really observing what my breath is really all about, how it guides my thoughts about my movements and reactions, and how the challenge itself is really something I perceive as difficult rather than something that actually is physically challenging. It's often more of a mental block than a physical one.
This all leads me to a general inspiration I've had lately, to look for the design behind the seemingly obvious, immediate, and simple. With a dose of compassion and a willingness to see more than what just appears in front of us, I think we can really better our lives and ourselves - and hence, those around us. If I'm finding a certain pose challenging, that I generally think should be easy, it may be a result of something else - extra stress I'm dealing with, a lack of sleep or food, my mind wandering off elsewhere because something is keeping me from focusing on the pose.... once I become aware of these things, expectations seem to fall away and the challenge becomes easier to face and breathe through.
There is a design around us, embedded deep, and the more we observe it and try to understand it, the better we'll be able to live with difficult factors and variables. In fact, I think that every challenge is an opportunity to test yourself, as it is a reminder that the design is there - that by listening to it, you'll strive for unity with it - and so even the ugliest and most difficult things in life will align with your rhythm and you'll better embrace them.
(Can you tell I've been reading The Alchemist - which has completely validated a lot of my "listen to the universe" philosophies.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment