That’s the thing, isn’t it? Time. The most important thing we have. Certainly more important than money or success. And just what are we going to choose to do with it? Do we even have a choice? I’d like to think so. So the question remains, what do we choose to do with it?
Poster: Climate of Denial
The current state of American climate policy is one of denial in the face of indisputable scientific fact.
It should’t come as a surprise. In the era of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” why would Americans rally around science? Why would we care about truth? Why would we listen to evidence or experts? The current trend lines are playing out as to be expected. Of course, we deny climate change. Of course, we believe what we want because it’s easier. Of course, we will not think hard because thinking is for snobs. Anything that contradicts our economic or religious outlooks, best to hunker down, ignore, and pretend. It’s our hyper individualism after all. We do what we want, to hell with the consequences.
Internet Fatigue
It is, in fact, insanely easy to do things on the Internet. And this Xennial knows what life was like before its speed and connectivity. When you had to always call people on the phone or show up in person. We tried to schedule a small tour in our punk band back in college, before the Internet was effortlessly used for such things. And it sucked. Mail, phone, mail, call. Hated it.
But, since it’s so easy to do things on the Internet, you just pile on more things. And now, with the pile so high, I just have an immense amount of Internet fatigue. Gotta book the car, find the hotels, schedule the windows consultation, pay the bills, add design work, buy the tickets, check the schedule, accept the invite, read the news, read the latest news, read the latest latest news, and, of course, Tweet and Tweet and Tweet and... Everything rolled into one...
Internet fatigue is very real. Boy is it real.
Run Meg Run!
A Fundraiser for Megan For Nebraska
Join hosts Justin and Katie Kemerling, Jake Welchert, and Adam Casey at this event for Megan Hunt, Candidate for Legislature in District 8, at Round and Round in Dundee. We'll have cocktails, conversation, and homemade snacks from the official #campaigngrandma, Mary Beth.
Tuesday, September 12
5:30–7pm
$25 Suggested Donation
Round and Round
5013 Underwood Avenue
Omaha, NE 68132
On Change
There is one core reason I’ve come to love a career in design. From month to month, week to week, day to day, the one constant in looking back on 15 years as a designer is this: change. Doing the same thing day in, day out, in the same way, within the same framework just doesn’t work for me. The uncertainty within an outlook that embraces change can, at times, be high in stress. But overall, that is overshadowed by newness, excitement, and looking into the unknown of what could be next.
What is next? Hard to say. Earlier this week, my wife took me out to dinner for my birthday. Wonderful time spent with great food, drink, and conversation. She’s very good at direct questions and follow-up. We went deep on what I’m looking for in the next few years from a creative business standpoint. The thing that I emphasized was change.
Now, I love being a designer. I feel very fortunate I’m able to do what I do, where I do it, and for whom I do it for. But I’m at a point where I feel something needs to change. There needs to be some sort of big shake up. New risks, new emphasis, new goals. I can feel that in the center of my being. I’m ready to embrace some sort of change, some sort of shift. I didn’t get into this business to accept the same old same old and I certainly have no intention of doing so now.
If I wasn’t a designer, maybe I’d be a...
Some other careers I find myself drawn to, for one reason or another:
- Media Theorist: What is truth? Where does it come from? Who are we talking to about it? Why?
- Landscape Architect: Plants and stone and design, working with the Earth and its seasons.
- Music Critic: Music is proof we are destined for greatness. So let’s talk about it!
- Chef Justin: The way fresh vegetables smell when I’m cutting and dicing gets me every time. Always.
- House Painter: Maybe there isn’t anything a fresh coat of paint can’t solve.
Giving up on the idea of being “good”
Just let “good” go. Do not even categorize what you do in terms of good and bad (or not good). Instead, just do the design work. You went to school for it, you honed your skills, you’ve evolved over the course of however many years. Why does it matter if you’re good? Instead, focus on the task at hand: solve the problem, find the opportunity. Be a worker and get the job done in the only way you know how to do it. If you can let go of being “good,” you can focus on delivering what it is you came to deliver.
