 May you harvest the light
+ keep it burning brightly in your heart, so that when the deepest darkness of winter is upon us, you will remember the summer sun. ~Teo Bishop
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 We live in a designed world, surrounded by built systems and objects.
No object, no matter how small, is designed in a vacuum. Design is in close conversation with other complex forces like labor, the environment, our planet’s resources, technology, communities on a local + global scale, and future generations as well. All of the decisions a designer makes have an ecosystem of impact that reverberates far beyond the acts of ideation + creation. Historically, design has centered the human experience. The value of a product has come from its beauty and/or its ability to make life ‘better.’ But when we design solely with humans in mind, it is all too easy to forget that humans are not the only ones affected by what we make. Can something be truly good design if it’s bad for the planet, wildlife, local communities + workers? The truly beautiful is one + the same with the truly good. ~Kalon (image via link)  Be someone who handles hard better.
If you have a meaningful pursuit in life, it will never be easy. ~Kara Lawson  To be hopeful in bad times
is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-- and there are so many-- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory. ~Howard Zinn  Satisfaction =
what you have divided by what you want. ~Arthur Brooks  Simple living is about freedom.
It’s about a freedom to choose space rather than clutter, to choose open and generous living rather than a secure and sheltered way. Freedom is about choices: Freedom to choose less rather than more. It’s about choosing time for people and ideas and self-growth rather than for maintenance and guarding and possessing and cleaning. Simple living is about moving through life rather lightly, delighting in the plain and the subtle. It is about poetry and dance, song and art, music and grace. It is about optimism and humor, gratitude and appreciation. It is about embracing life with wide-open arms. It’s about living and giving with no strings attached. Simple living is as close as the land on which we stand. It is as far-reaching as the universe that makes us gasp. We will not be happy living selfishly in a small world. We must live in awareness and in association with the whole real world. Our universe. Our cosmos. Our environment. Our earth. Our air. Our water supply. Our country. Our neighbor. Our car. Our homes. All are part of simple living. ~José Hobday  As we grow older in the West, we generally think
we should have a lot to show for our lives- a lot of trophies. According to Eastern thinking, this is backward. As we age, we shouldn't accumulate more to represent ourselves but rather strip things away to find our true selves. ~Arthur Brooks  I have done good work.
Even the most prolific among us needs to write love letters to ourselves. I have done good work. Your life, your story, your words have meaning. You have done good work. ~Brandi Cheyenne Harper |
on a journey toward zero-waste, simplicity, + compassion :: daring to choose fair one choice at a time
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