It’s Friday and the long black is in hand. These days I can’t sleep in, so I’m ready to go with my day by 6.30am.
I’m in the study pondering different opinions on a day I walked through this week and I’m doing my very best to shake it off and move forward with my week.
It reminds me of a time when I was at University and I had to take a three dimensional unit that involved perspective drawing and creating a chair that was to scale. I was deeply challenged and out my depth.
I’m a two-dimensional designer, I see things in motion graphics, locked-off frames and sweeping shots. But when it’s part of the curriculum you have to participate to get that qualification.
To my surprise I fell in love with 3-D. Understanding and seeing all sides of the object and getting to know every facet was challenging yet rewarding. Throughout the creative journey you get to see the object from so many different points of view that your original perspective of the object changes. It’s a thought process I’ve taken with me into other areas of my life. Often I have my view— a two dimensional opinion or take on something and when I get over myself and pull back from a situation, it’s clear there are many facets to it. Sometimes my opinion, dare I say, isn’t the best and my closest confidantes have a better take, or at least an alternate one, that makes me think about things from a different angle. So I humble myself, shut my mouth, press pause, listen, think and then open it again to thank them for their brutal honesty.
In other words, I consider looking at the issue from a three-dimensional perspective.
I’m a perfectionist and I give my all to projects, but I’m also human. I have
completely off days, when no amount of effort is going to make that moment or
project okay. Some days I try, stumble, try, and just make it over the finish line.
All I hear bleeping loudly in my head is, ‘Human Error’.
I’m not a robot, but seriously sometimes I wish I was.
My preferred tendency is to dwell here and try and come up with a zillion ways
to do it better next time.
But the other day, my dear friend gave me an alternative option.
It was called time.
He told me in a strong voice to give myself time.
His words were, “You will get better, but you just have to push repeat until the
new skill becomes second nature.”
I wanted him to wallow with me and pat me on the back and tell me I would be
okay.
Instead he gave me tough love.
I needed it.
He gave me the chance to look at the day from a 3-D perspective and to also consider in that moment to not get stuck in the mud. I often need to pull back and see situations from a different point of view—to reframe my perspective.
My friends and family combine as a mosaic to create a multitude of perspectives for me as we talk about life and issues. I love that this gives me the chance to view life in 3-D, to move past being stuck in a 2-D world.
So, I raise my long black and give a toast to moving forward and seeing all sides of the story/moment/project.
Love