WHAT I BELIEVE KIMCHI TO BE

As a Korean-born, U.S. adopted daughter, my false understanding of what kimchi was didn't come to life until I was well on my way to adulthood. During an era when most foods originated from a can, I came to believe most food was bland, including kimchi. My recollection of kimchi was a runny, lumpy mixture of brown meet, gravy, and onions cooked quickly on the stove. This conglomorate could not be further from the truth. Kimchi is a spicy, crunchy, colorful blend of cabbage, spices, and anchovies (or other seasonal, local tidbits) fermented to heighten flavor over a long period of time.

Was my mom deceived? Was she trying to trick me with food she was more confident I would like? (Note: I was not a picky eater.) Or, did she truly not know what kimchi was? I believed her when she told me I was eating kimchi.

What are you eating? What are you feeding yourself? Is it bland? Tasteless? Are you going about your life believing its true, ingesting it because you're hungry and it's in front of you? Stop and check it's authenticity. It may be the turning point that unveils a truth that's in complete contrast, bringing more spice, crunch, and joy to your life!

A Map for Our Attention.

It was stated in a recent conversation with a client that a schedule is a map for our attention. There are so many directions we could carry this metaphor, but today, a visual image immediately came to mind. What patterns inform how you spend your time?

Does every event on your schedule create a perfect grid on your attention map similar to Chicago’s city map? Not likely. But if it’s close, is it a reflection of one’s disciplinary practices?

What are you paying attention to? Is it attention-worthy and discipline-empowering? Is it worth your attention?

Grateful.

Gratitude and complaining cannot coexist. Attempts to have it both ways emerges when we include a “but” in the sentence. I’m so grateful for __________, but I hate it when __________________. What? How can a feeling of generosity and an attitude of stinginess exist in the same thought? The latter discounts the former.

So choose which attitude you value most and stick to it. You can’t have it both ways and be happy.

Selvage vs. Salvage

Selvage: an edge produced that prevents a thing from unraveling.

Salvage: property saved when everything is unraveling.

Are you in selvage or salvage mode?

Privilege of the edge.

It’s 2024 and it’s not comfortable. Sitting on the edge frustrates the senses. Should we feel comfortable or anxious? Should we lean back toward what’s familiar or lean into the air of the unknown? My curiosity nudges me to the unknown.

It’s in the unknown that we discover people’s needs previously unrevealed.

It’s in the unknown that we discover our capacity never tapped.

It’s in the unknown that we seek God.

All your heart. All your ways.

Our ways follow our heart. Our ways show up through our decisions, impulses, and leanings.

Do you like what you see?

Do you like what others see?

Look at your heart. You might want to change your ways.

Wonder.

Often it seems that we have to undertake the longest journey to arrive at what has been nearest all along. Mornings rarely find us so astounded at the new day that we are unable to decide between adventures. We take on days with the same conditioned reflex with which we wash and put on our clothes each morning. If we could be mindful of how short our time is, we might learn how precious each day is.

There are some people who will never forget today. - John O’Donohue

Silence.

John Cage, the American composer, created the infamous 4’33” in 1952. This movement of three sets held the title Silent Prayer in 1948 until its launch. The performance featured, pianist, David Tudor, who was instructed to play Tacit (Latin for silent) for three intervals - each separated by the abrupt banging of the opening and closing of the piano keyboard lid. The ambient unplanned sounds surrounding the audience (ie. coughing, shuffles, and whispers) during its debut contributed to the rhythm of silence revealing that even in silence, there is always something happening — contributions of being human.

We are alive, and it’s in this life that we are surrounded by the swipes, sighs, and glances of humans around us. If we pause in silence, our senses will be heightened to the rhythm of the sounds of slight gestures prompted by the people around us. We’ll hear life in it’s slightest. What a small but peaceful place to be.

Power of beauty.

“I don’t think much about beauty when I work, but if the result isn’t beautiful, it probably wasn’t right.” — Buckminster Fuller

When everything is quantified, beauty is pushed to the periphery. It is confused with decoration, a dispensable luxury, a charming surface that hides whatever is important. This concept of beauty is false. We need beauty at the heart of everything we do. As a mathematician, beauty is one of the highest measures of intelligence. The greatest formulae and theorems are notable for their elegance. Beauty is the guarantee of balance, efficiency, organization, and inventiveness. Nature is beautiful because it keeps getting things right. Even hidden things need beauty. Steve Jobs insisted that even the motherboards inside Apple computers should be beautiful. 

Beauty is a persuader. For smart ideas to win out over bad ones, we have to make them smartly seductive. Beauty does that. Beauty takes good and makes it extraordinary. The quickest way to make old solutions look outdated is to make new ones more beautiful. This is why good design is so critical to business solutions. Not only does it have the potential to solve the inner workings of a business (strategy, business model, vision casting, etc.), but it inspires the extraordinary. It makes everything irresistibly attractive. 

Chances are, if you wear a dress or suit that you feel attractive in, you’ll present yourself with more confidence and courage. The same is true for your PowerPoint presentations, your printed brochures, your website, or your Instagram feed. It’s also true for your office, building facade, sidewalk, or checkout station. If you feel that what you’re offering your clients is more appealing, they’ll feel more comfortable and therefore potentially increase your sales. 

Ironically, a lot of recent design work we’ve been completing has been for the church. They understand that innovation and beauty are an elixir for curiosity. From prayer books to devotionals to interactive boxes, churches are supporting the value of faith with beautiful design.

Beauty is key to effective design.

Art + science = design.

Design demands whole-brain thinking. We’re familiar with the concept of left-brain and right-brain thinking; the left brain is scientific and analytical, while the right brain is creative and intuitive. In design, it’s ideal to engage the whole brain — synthesizing both left and right, both art and science. Through extensive research, we bring together the quantitative and the qualitative with analytics and invention. If we understand the value of both sides of the brain, we’re able to listen more empathetically, rather than with judgment.

This mindset lends itself not only to creating visual beauty, but also to stepping into strategy and analytics. We can see a system and create multiple paths in our minds in order to solve a problem. This is important because we know there isn’t just one way to solve a problem, especially when people are involved… which is all the time! We have to remain empathetic and flexible since as humans, we often grow and change. The world is changing all the time, and  our solutions must be able to change with the environment. 

Critical, not cynical.

We must be critical, not cynical. Cynical thinking celebrates negativity and is passively destructive. When we think cynically, everything appears dark. Cynical thinking is neither positive nor negative. It has no “dog in the fight.”

What we need instead is the reasoned process of analysis, of fully understanding the nature of the problem and then finding the freedom to design solutions. The most powerful critique of a bad solution is a better one. As designers, our task is to create better solutions, and that process begins with optimism.