Design, art, and everyday living - and writing, too

So I was just thinking about a lot of stuff. It's been a difficult couple of years. Almost no design or art from me in that time. I did manage to learn how to write better. Now the tide is turning, and design and art are being reactivated in my life.

So why are they important? Meaning, what are they? Always kind of mysterious to me, design and art have been on a pedestal in my mind. Why did I set them apart from myself like that?

This morning everything seems simple. I can ask myself those questions, and answer them too. Like so...

Art is a more intentional way to live. It is conscious of itself, it's a somewhat more-than-average kind of daily consciousness. Too much self-consciousness can be pretty hard to take. But with art, that extra consciousness is made bearable because the artist brings grace to it with their care and skill in what they do.

And design is a practical application of art, with a great deal of deliberate exercise of consciousness, care and skill.

Design and art are about becoming spiritually and emotionally aware, about expressing new awarenesses with grace, so they can be shared with others.

Design and art are forms of love, of communion. They are the practice of intentional mindfulness. They are a prayer, a prayer made with mind, heart, hands and will to make something with a tangible difference.

They have a sacred nature.

Now I understand the mystery and the pedestal.

Now I understand why artists are often silent.

As I learned first-hand during the past two years, writing is also art.

Under my fingertips are keys on a PC. The Internet is a medium and my keyboard is my paintbrush. I usually write on my PC. But once I wrote a poem by hand, and the result was kind of extraordinary.

If you write primarily on your computer, try writing a story or poem with something soft (a 4B or 6B pencil, soft chalk, or branch charcoal) on a piece of soft paper. See what the drag of the friction of the soft analog tool-to-medium interface does to the hand, arm, mind and eye connection that is part of your writing.

I'm sure many people reading this post here already do much of their writing by hand. But lots of people don't anymore. If you don't, do give it a try. Artist to artist, I predict the results will surprise you.