from Buckminster Fuller. In the context of design and changing the world. Found in the film “The World of Buckminster Fuller”. Reminds me of the question Charles Eames would ask before beginning a project, “Why should this exist?” Or another one that was inspired by my friend Steve Lambert, “What one idea do you want to share with others?”
All good.
Would like to write more but my days are very full with parenting an active four year old and a beautiful giggly six month old, enjoying the sun, knitting, working on books, and trying to figure out where we are going to live out the rest of our lives.
3:28 pm
Keri! Hi!
One question that Colin and I ask with our work (and life I guess!) is “How does this help people?” We heard our friend Grace ask this as she was stepping into a recording booth to record a radio spot… It helped her gain grounding for the project at hand. and it’s become this mantra of ours.
7:57 pm
I have lived 65 years, a lovely life filled with family and friends I love and a long career in teaching, doing a job I loved; yet it has had its very difficult times and has sometimes been and continues to be a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and truly CAREENING curves. Recently I have concluded that I DO have and answer to how to have a good life. For me, it has all boiled down to ATTITUDE. My attitude is the only difference in being peaceful or in turmoil, being happy or sad, being angry or serene, being distraught or content–even in the face of very hard times. The work I must always do is on my attitude. It is the only thing I can change, and I do so by deciding what my mind will dwell on, what I will allow my inner voice to constantly say to me, what I will believe spiritually, and by making decisions on a constant basis that lead me to a positive, loving attitude. All Pollyanna jokes aside, it works. Period. Your work reflects a positive attitude. Thank you. I have enjoyed participating!
7:59 pm
Oh, and I meant to answer the question: What needs to be done?
Grow your positive and loving attitude. All else will follow.
2:43 pm
I love the fact that I have to read a wiki about Bucky to find out that he went to my high school. Thanks Keri. This made my day! (Steve Lambert also seems amazing. I wish he was my friend.)
9:34 am
I don’t know the meaning of life yet, so i don’t know what, if anything, “needs” to be done.
Regardless of that uncertainty, there is great meaning in mine, and i hope in yours also.
But there are a few things i do believe.
I don’t mind what people could say; I take my pointers from Doctor Who. He is something I believe in.
I believe in taking responsibility for our actions, our past, and gosh, we are taking control of our futures when we acknowledge and understand our past. We so have to! Or maybe, it’s that we very totally should.
Learn from every experience you have. There are so many millions. So many millions to take, so many millions to lose, so many millions to waste.
You can very probably find something ‘good’ in each of the million moments you do get.
This week I am lucky to be alive. And I am happy to be alive. And i will never EVER ride my bicycle anywhere near a road again!
I will learn. I have learnt. I have to survive for as long as i can survive. I have to die when i have to die. I have to dissipate into the billions of billions of atoms which compile me, and go on to become a little bit grass, a little bit soil, a little bit dust, food, rock, ant, and a billion other things.
The only thing i have to do is die. Someday.
But even then, it will be a few billion years before you or i cease to be….if we ever do stop…
The sum of my life, what i would like for the lifes of others to be:
Never stop.
Maybe, on your death bed say to yourself “I did it. I got there. I have been successful. I lived well. I achieved something.” (Maybe even “something great”.)
But until that moment, never stop moving.
Standing still is not going backwards, so it may as well be defined as moving forwards.
Keep raising the bar. ALWAYS remind yourself of every time you did rais the bar. Don’t think of it as: “Oh god, when does this stop, i’m never going to get ‘there’!” and become overwhelmed…Instead, remind yourself of: “In one week, i have smoked half as many cigarettes. Wow. Good job.”
Say: “Last year, i never could have left the house without my backpack.”
Think how far you have come, not how far you “have to go”. Thinking of how far you COULD go is inspiring….it is powerful indeed, i know how it can crush and hurt….but really, that was just me doing that to myself.
Keep moving.
Space, the universe…time and space….they’re not straight lines, they’re curved. So, there is no such thing as moving backwards.
Just – Keep – Moving.
Always moving.
11:46 am
hi keri. i’m a long time reader and first time commenter! i don’t live / work in the art / design world like you do, so my version of the question is “what wrong will i right today / with my life.” i watched about 10 minutes of what i thought was a documentary about these warriors whom have taken on the protection of a herd of sacred antelope in china. they do so as volunteers under the harshest conditions and at great peril to their personal safety. the film wasn’t a documentary per se, it was a “based on a true story” and was either pretty horrible, or I was not in the mood. regardless, it left me with this deep consideration for myself. “what wrong shall i right in my lifetime?” i consider this a great guiding post for me.
cheers to you and your growing family.
samantha
8:24 am
Howdy! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thanks
