- My Grandma was a painter. She also did flower arrangements for people. I’ve always been a more audio and tactile person. I remember going to visit her one day sometime in September or October. She was on the second story of a rest home. When I walked in, she was staring our her window which looked out to the top of a giant tree just a few feet away. “Hi Grandma! How are you doing!” “I’m trying to figure out how to make the color of the leaves”, “…huh?” “I can’t quite figure out what I would mix to make that color. It’s such an interesting green, I don’t think I’ve even seen it before.” “…Grandma, you just changed my whole world and how I see colors.”
I have a friend who blows glass. One day talking to him about it I asked, “What’s your favorite thing about glass?” (A typical, sometimes annoying type of question that I like to ask) “Well… one of the coolest things to me… you know when you see colored glass?” “Yeah!” “It’s not actually that color. The composition of the glass is such that it reflects only that color when light bounces through the crystals. So clear glass reflects nothing, green glass only green, brown only brown. You can add different things to the glass to make it do that. The stuff for green and brown is the most common. Blue is more rare, red is super rare. That’s why you don’t see red glass as often.” “Whoa! You just changed my entire perception of glass!” “Pretty cool huh?”
My brother is a financial advisor. He was just getting into it when all the shenanigans in 2008 happened. Needless to say, the industry was dealing with a bad reputation that justifiably stems from some bad practices. It was a fun learning process for me watching my brother process the point and value of an industry that has been saturated by greed and causing so many problems. One day, I asked about what he wanted to do in the industry. He simplified it for me. “Investing in it’s pure form is a really great thing for society. You’re taking money that’s not being used and funneling it to grow businesses that (ideally) provide beneficial services to society. It creates a way more efficient society as a whole if used correctly. The concept also works on a small scale. I can make coffee at work, but instead I go to a coffee shop. I pay more, but I’m putting money into the community and getting social interaction out of it. It’s a way to connect, network, and have good conversation.” So we’re always investing in something.
Sitting in a bar in Monterey I met a guy who dives to collect jade. He would also carve it and sell it. In fact he made a living doing it. “That’s so great to be able to do what you love! Do you have a favorite thing you’ve made?” “Well… sort of. It’s my favorite and least favorite. Have you been to the Monterey aquarium?” “Yeah”, “You know the circular tank they have mounted in the ceiling of the hallway with the bait fish swimming around in circles?” “Yeah!”, “I made that… probably the best craftsmanship I’ve ever done.” “That’s cool man!” He didn’t look happy. He took a big drink of his beer and looked at me. “Yeah, well whenever I think about it, all I can think of is that I doomed those fish to simply swim in circles the rest of their lives.”
At one point, I lived in an experimental, educational, commune that was focused on sustainable architecture. It’s called Arcosanti and is located in the desert an hour north of Phoenix. It was created by Paolo Soleri who was a student of Frank Loyd Wright. Most of the people living there were architects or graphic designers. I was neither of those, nor had I ever been inclined in that direction. My friend who’s a graphic designer lived there however, and after visiting for a few days, it came up that they needed a spot filled for a work exchange. “Sure why not!” While there I learned a number of things about architecture and graphic design. I learned that architecture is a cut throat business and that most people getting into it don’t have much hope of doing their major work until they’re at least in their 40’s. I learned that if you are a famous 92 year old architect you get paid to travel the world, give speeches and answer peoples questions with whatever you feel like talking about. I also learned about the essence of graphic design. I’d been asking my friend a number of questions, telling him I was currently trying to wrap my head around the concept as I hadn’t ever been inclined towards it before and it was coming up in some of my research along with my living situation. One day, walking into the cafe he and another graphic designer he worked with called to me, “Trent! Come here!” I walked over to where they were looking at a National Geographic, “This, is good graphic design.” It was a map of the world. It had a small chart of all the parts that go into a car. On the map, it had corresponding drawing’s and arrows showing where each little part came from. “You see how it conveys the idea both efficiently and beautifully? It utilizes space well, completely conveys the concept and is pleasing to look at” “Ohh, that IS good graphic design…”
My gut tells me that I’ll probably never be a professional painter, glass blower, jade carver, financial advisor, architect or graphic designer; but you never know. Regardless, through my curiosity and interaction in topics that I’m not naturally good at or inclined to; I see colors differently and think about their components, I see glass differently and am impressed by rare colors, I have a sense of good and bad investments, all the little ways we invest and therefore spend money differently, I have an appreciation for pretty images with clearly laid out concepts, and whenever I see an animal in a well made tank or cage I imagine that the creator might be out sitting in a bar somewhere drinking away their regrets.
Playfulness is intertwined with curiosity and interaction, and other people are the best resource for playing and exploring ways to see the world.
What are some interactions that have changed your views? What are some ways they have changed how you go through life that you might not always be thinking of?