Blog 10B

For this blog, we were asked to read a portion of Karim Rashid's manifesto, and look at some of his work. Out of the ten points listed, the one that says "Never say: "I could have done that" because you didn't" speaks to me the most. I think that this is a really really important piece of advice, and one that I have rolled around in my head for awhile. 

So many tiny things happen in life. And all of these tiny little things are constantly creating infinitely long chains of events. There was a time when I decided to leave a little early to get somewhere. In doing this, I met someone who happened to be on that street at the same time. Because of meeting him, I ended up meeting someone else who ended up having a huge impact on me. If I had not left a little early, none of this would have happened. And things like this happen every single day, all the time. 

These things always make me chew it over in my head. Does everything happen for a reason? Or do things just simply happen? I'd like to believe the former. In fact, I absolutely do believe the former. Not only about the big things. I think every minuscule movement, every step, every cough and squirm and mistake happens for a reason. I have absolutely no idea what those reasons may be. But I believe it nonetheless, because life is way to hard to not. I would spend so much time ruminating in my mistakes and pitying myself for my hardships if I did not believe that they are all nudging me in some direction. What direction? I have no idea, but I think that life is too extraordinarily complicated and mysterious for me not to believe that our time spent here on this floating mass is part of some greater plan. It helps me to believe this, because it gives me the freedom to look at a mistake or an event and believe that it had to happen that way. That there was no other option. That it was always going to happen that way. This makes me feel like I have the freedom, or as if I have permission to move on, and to not beat myself up. This is why I like Karim Rashid's bit of advice, "Never say: "I could have done that" because you didn't." I have nearly drown myself in "what ifs" and "why didn't Is" and especially "could haves" and "should haves." It's an easy thought path to get lost in, but it is detrimental. It can weigh you down. So for me, I like to tell myself that that was the way something was supposed to unfold, and try my best to float on from it. 

So anyway, back to Karim. I definitely think that his spirituality informs his art. I think that ones personal manifesto, whether written out of just a collection of beliefs, cannot help but drive the work that they do. I think that people create art from some place of inspiration within themselves, this place being a collection of all that they have experienced and learned.