Inspirations

So, I meant to post this to the blog a while ago, but I read some in this book, "A whole New Mind: Why the Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future," and I thought everyone can use a little new media inspiration. So I just wanted to share some quotes with you all- some that I found simply quintessential to the book, along with my thoughts/interpretations of it.

1. "Drawing is not really very difficult... seeing is the problem"

*Many times, we don't stop to look around the world to witness the art of everyday. We live our lives to the city's beat, distracted, scrambled and often simply lost. But how can

we ever be truly aware of the world around us if we don't have it bluntly pointed out in

our faces? To me, the answer lies in seeing with our hearts, not our eyes and minds.

2. "It's not true that what is useful is beautiful. It is what is beautiful is useful. Beauty can improve people's way of life and thinking."

* Sometimes, we can focus so much on the 'beauty' in art, the 'beauty' in life. But what

we miss out on is often a realization that we are culturally, socially and psychologically

defining our worlds. We have the power to change any impression, of even the most

unattractive aspects of our world into beauty, but we just focus on the more ascetically

pleasing aspects. Maybe we can make a change in this way, maybe it makes us stand, stagnant.

3. "Experience is the most important part of living, and the exchange of ideas and human contact is all life really is: Space and objects can encourage increased experiences or distract us form our experiences."

*When you think about 'experiencing' something, what comes to mind? Places?

People? Maybe some visual memories? Not so much the sensations, like the feel of the

cold snow on your hands or the taste of coffee during the conversation with a friend,

but I find I remember the visuals. The way things looked sticks with me more than the

'experience' of the time. I won't be able to feel the pain of tripping over my own feet, but I can still 'experience' a laugh from remembering the looks of my friends when they saw me fall. Sometimes, life is easier to record visually than sensorily.

4. According to a passage about the elements of design, proximity is defined as: "Items relating to each other should be grouped close together"

*In relation to our environment, do we not surround ourselves with items that we relate to ourselves? It seems to me, we are drawn to find similarities between ourselves and our world. Maybe we want to find meaning, maybe we fear being isolated; but that doesn't mean that we can't seek out all our differences, our oddities, and how we disconnect.

5. "Stories are easier to remember--because in many ways, stories are how we remember. Narrative imagining--story--is the fundamental instrument of thought... Rational capacities depend on it. It is our chief means of looking into the future, of predicting, of planning, and of explaining... Most of our experience, our knowledge and our thinking is organized as stories."

*We have our whole lives to live/experience. But how do we remember every aspect, how will we continue to exist after we die? Our stories preserve our essence as human beings; whether through our children, our friends and family, or in recorded/permanent form.

But its all about making the story worth telling.