Finally the snow has come to change everything. When you change the light, you change everything, and Friday morning when the sun, that brilliant reset button that comes up every day, lit up the white world, it was a new season. Snow is my happy light. One of the reasons that this year's slide down to the solstice was darker than most is that we didn't get real snow until after christmas. Snow must be contended with. It rearranges your schedule, requires some outside time, magnifies sunlight, multiplies moonlight. Snow shuts down the old year and everything about it that needed shutting down. Another good snowfall last night. That's it. I'm getting out our snow shoes.
Ever the queen of new year's resolutions, I like this list from designer Tim Brown.
1. Be optimistic, collaborative, and generative.
There’s something wonderfully gratifying about creating something new,
whether it’s an award-winning design or a home-cooked meal.
2. Think of life as a prototype.
Conduct experiments, make discoveries, change as needed.
Any process can be re-examined and tweaked. Look for opportunities to turn
a process into a project with a tangible outcome.
3. Don't ask "what?" ask "why?"
Instead of accepting a given constraint, ask whether this is the
right problem to be solving.
4. Demand divergent options.
Don’t settle for the first good idea that comes to mind or seize on the first
promising solution presented to you. Explore divergent options—and then set a
deadline so you know when to move on.
5. Once a day, deeply observe the ordinary.
Make it a rule that at least once a day you will stop and take a second look
at some ordinary situation that you would normally look at only once (or not at all).
Get out in the world and be inspired by people.
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