The Importance of Unplugging

Perhaps at no time in my life have I felt such a temptation to always be moving as I do now that i'm in art school, where productivity is measured by what I make. My hands have spent the last few months flitting about from project to project, whilst my brain has strategized about how to get things done efficiently. I've immersed myself in inordinate amounts of literature related to my subject of study, and the many other subjects that inform it. Even when i'm at home and the day is nearing end, there is a temptation to clean, to organize, to create. One thing that is not stressed here in design school, however, is the need for good rest to enhance the power of one's mind and to help one set aside the temptation towards selfish aims.

Rest is a beautiful, mysterious and powerful thing. It involves a turning over of the things that one wants to control and a coming to terms with the fact that we simply cannot master everything, nor would we want to. We live in a culture that encourages us to be "on" 24/7. If not working directly, then soaking up or examining things from afar. We are pushed to immerse ourselves at every moment possible, to dive deep beneath the waves of culture and humanity and reemerge with a solution that will move both forward. Yet, solutions don't always come with immersion. Sometimes, we must look outside things to find understanding. And sometimes, too, we must look outside ourselves. Rest allows us to do this, to still our souls in the midst of a spinning universe and find rooting and grounding.

This remains an incomplete set of thoughts but is a kernel of what is brewing in my mind of late. There's certainly more to come.