Eric and his Iced Cap / June 27, 2010
Coming to you from a new location, here’s the early summer update…
Next / Best (Version 2)
Escape
River Valley trails / BC
Inspiration
Communication Arts magazine / Nature
Fad
plaid board shorts / flip flops
Director
Joss Wheden / Wes Anderson
Photo ProjectWedding / Self Directed
Music
Lay Me Down – The Dirty Heads / Summer reggae
(click for more)
A conversation recently with a friend brought up some interesting questions. Which things in our life should we half, and which should we double? With such a focus on consumerism and money in today’s society, would we be able to live a more fulfilling life with half the consumerism and double the “living”?
These questions challenged me to examine my life and how I could Half and Twice to make things more meaningful. Some of the items on my list are easier to write than they are to implement, but hopefully the mere act of writing them down will affect me subconsciously the next time I’m doing or thinking about that activity.
Half
• Eating meals out
• Time spent in front of a screen
• Money spent on unnecessary objects
ª Time spent alone
• The amount of overtime I work
Double
• Cooking my own meals
• Time on a bike
• Money put into savings for the future (or my next international vacation)
• The number of times I sweat in a week
• Time spent with friends
• Time spent reading and studying
• Time spent exploring
I know this won’t be an overnight change, but if I can pick one or two things a week to focus on, hopefully the habits will develop and before I know it, my life will be half and double what it was before.
Go outside and live.
…with a whole new appreciation for life, social justice, and raising awareness.
I’m going to attempt to put the words that have been spinning around my head in the week that I’ve been back into coherent paragraphs and sentences. It’s been a huge switch to come back from Zambia and I’m just now beginning to find my routine again. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing…
The last thing I want to do is come off sounding all “preachy”, but I honestly believe with my whole heart that everyone from our western, North American culture should take a trip to a third world country to learn from the people there. Yes, LEARN from them. Despite having so many more worldly possessions and making more money in a few weeks from my warehouse job than the people there will in an entire year, the people in the villages taught me so much about living a life that is meaningful and impactful on those around me based on their example of how they exemplify the concept of Community.
As much as I had been expecting to see a country and people different from anything I had experienced before, I wasn’t prepared to have it make me feel so humbled by their example. The friendship and brotherhood shared by the people in the villages where we slept was something so far advanced from any community that I had seen before. There is so much love and care for their fellow Zambian. In our Canadian, industrial, “cold” culture, so much of our life is spent focusing on the individual, making sure one’s own needs are met that we often neglect the needs of those around us. Seeing how one village cared for a mentally disabled man – making sure he always had enough food, that his house was always kept clean and stocked with any necessities he needed, offering him a meal or supplies if he was lacking – was such a stark contrast to the coldness we often show the mentally ill people living on the streets of Edmonton. We’re so quick to turn up our iPod as we walk past, to look the other direction so that we don’t have to meet their gaze and their requests for help.
How can we change from our ways? Let me know what you think…
I really don’t know the answer, other than being exposed to how impactful and more fulfilling the idea of Community can actually be. We all need a chance to see it in action. To step out of our comfort zone and just to get a taste.
There will be MANY photos to come. Trust me.
The new VNDRL.com look is slowly evolving. I’m working the kinks out as I build and test each element. I’m hoping to have some more flash galleries up soon as well as a consistent “look” through the entire website. That’s my job as a designer, isn’t it?
Keep checking back regularly.
Business cards for VNDRL are finally in! After running out of cards that I made for the 2007 MacEwan Design Studies Grad Show, I had to get a new set made up that included the website name. Simple was the name of the game. No glaring 4 colour photos, no extraneous spot varnishes or rounded corners, just something to show that I exist.
Ask for one next time you see me. I have lots.
Well, as you can see, things have changed slightly here at vndrl.com. Attempting to break out of my safe world of print design, I’ve decided to explore web design a bit in hopes of expanding my skillset and what I can offer potential clients.
I’m hoping that as I become more comfortable and knowledgable with the web interface, updates will become more frequent. If you have suggestions or comments, please let me know what I can do to make this a better experience for you, the reader.
Updates to follow…
For more recent photos, check out vndrl on Flickr