Ok, first idea for CalypsoCafe, we may want to consider a list of keywords to assist in sharing here. Keywords in the sense that when I get ready to post something, knowing full well that I need to post, I go blank…the blankest of the blank. I just suggest that some visual cues for ease of inspiration would be helpful. I mean, if I want to post, have no idea what to post, but see a word like…well, let’s say “hamburger” as a ridiculous example, I can list 5 of my favorite burger joints immediately, what burger to get at each one, why you should stay away from the pot of complementary beans, and driving directions from 4 major metropolitan areas. One person, anyone, could post a single word, and depending on how many people decide to actually start using this blog, the subsequent postings might just be surprisingly easy to develop, manipulate, and come into existence. Any word would do, just keep it in the commercial language of most of us, or teach the new word or concept (always willing to learn!) and have the beginnings of a personalized vocabulary for our cluster. Grrr, I want a hamburger now.
hei. I tried posting on this before (vision) but the form crashed mid-save … I’ll try to rewrite what I wrote b4
vision – for me, as a designer, I need vision as both an end-point and also as a starting-point. when I am presented with a design problem (I do not know why I always call design challenges, “problems” – they just are. Maybe it has something to do with the concept of “problem-solving” that is built into my personality), whatever, when I am first confronted with the design problem, I need to “see” both the issues facing the whole task and how I may be able to solve them. it is not always a clear vision … many times I start work on a project with only a portion of the vision from the client in mind. I have to literally pull the unspoken needs and desires from the client in order to catch their own vision. And the truth be told, everyone has a vision. We all see where we want to be, we just may not see clearly how to get there, and in my own work I know that I often have to go through a lot of iteration and “play” (or even just a LOT of repetitive mistake-making) before I get to a good end-point where I can say “I have created what I first saw in my mind”.
Vision for me is both inner-sight and outer-seeing. Other people do this all the time – visualizing something or somewhere other than where they are or what they are doing – but a lot of people feel limited by their own abilities. Maybe one of the things I will have to remember to do is to encourage people to both share their vision and then also to try to visualize more effectively. It is not a matter of “if you can see it, you can do it” – it really is a lot deeper, you have to see it, and communicate it to other’s, otherwise it is not a vision, it is a daydream.
anyhoo. my two-cents in a flash.
“(Vision) reaches beyond the thing that is, into the conception of what can be. Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own.” (Robert Collier)
kind of gives the “making the invisible, visible” idea a leg up – but I guess that Eph. 3:9 made it pretty clear too …
I agree about vision giving you “the impulse to make the picture your own”. At the same time, I have a hard time about anyone “owning” a vision … visions must, by nature, be shared. (and yes, I know he wrote about owning a picture, not the vision, I do think it is important to draw the distinction – but this is a dialogue, oui?).
pvos
not to hog the discussion topic choosing, but considering the lapsed (why does this word look like word for “children” in Finnish to me, only misspelled, there’s studying for ya) time. Guess my next word is…
devotion: my definition – to spend an inordinate amount of time doing something, or being with someone or something. To spend oneself completely on something.
The question becomes, then, what does “inordinate” mean in the above case? Most definitions go with the negative; “excessive: beyond normal limits”, “extreme”, “excess: immoderation as a consequence of going beyond sufficient or permitted limits”.
Let’s break it down, Mr. Etymology style. in + ordinate. in, being the negative side so many focus on, from the Latin prefix meaning “not” or “without” and ordinate being the Latin (them Latins were into everything) meaning to arrange or order. Ordinate is also the value of a coordinate on the vertical (or Y) axis. It is also often used when discussing time or regularity. It is also (and this is the funny one) the word that we Xians use when we speak of someone as being “put into order” within the church; e.g., “He was ordained”, “they be ordinated”, etc..
But.
If I say that I spend an inordinate amount of time doing something, I am speaking of doing it with no thought of time or distance. I literally do it “without order”. I do it not thinking of how long it may take, nor how much it will cost. I am “devoted” to it. I guess I’m devoted to playing Irish whistle, ’cause when I play, I forget time altogether and just play. Tune after tune keeps on coming, and if I draw a blank, I find some music and keep on going.
According to a real dictionary, to devote means “To give one’s time, focus one’s efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter.” So being devoted without limits, inordinately, is not a bad thing. Artists are devoted to their art. We all should be devoted to worship. God is devoted to his creation, man.
Ok, first idea for CalypsoCafe, we may want to consider a list of keywords to assist in sharing here. Keywords in the sense that when I get ready to post something, knowing full well that I need to post, I go blank…the blankest of the blank. I just suggest that some visual cues for ease of inspiration would be helpful. I mean, if I want to post, have no idea what to post, but see a word like…well, let’s say “hamburger” as a ridiculous example, I can list 5 of my favorite burger joints immediately, what burger to get at each one, why you should stay away from the pot of complementary beans, and driving directions from 4 major metropolitan areas. One person, anyone, could post a single word, and depending on how many people decide to actually start using this blog, the subsequent postings might just be surprisingly easy to develop, manipulate, and come into existence. Any word would do, just keep it in the commercial language of most of us, or teach the new word or concept (always willing to learn!) and have the beginnings of a personalized vocabulary for our cluster. Grrr, I want a hamburger now.
Okay….HAMBURGER.
just kidding. GREAT idea, Danny! Thanks! Want to start us off with a word for a post?
Vision
Wow, that died out quick.
hei. I tried posting on this before (vision) but the form crashed mid-save … I’ll try to rewrite what I wrote b4
vision – for me, as a designer, I need vision as both an end-point and also as a starting-point. when I am presented with a design problem (I do not know why I always call design challenges, “problems” – they just are. Maybe it has something to do with the concept of “problem-solving” that is built into my personality), whatever, when I am first confronted with the design problem, I need to “see” both the issues facing the whole task and how I may be able to solve them. it is not always a clear vision … many times I start work on a project with only a portion of the vision from the client in mind. I have to literally pull the unspoken needs and desires from the client in order to catch their own vision. And the truth be told, everyone has a vision. We all see where we want to be, we just may not see clearly how to get there, and in my own work I know that I often have to go through a lot of iteration and “play” (or even just a LOT of repetitive mistake-making) before I get to a good end-point where I can say “I have created what I first saw in my mind”.
Vision for me is both inner-sight and outer-seeing. Other people do this all the time – visualizing something or somewhere other than where they are or what they are doing – but a lot of people feel limited by their own abilities. Maybe one of the things I will have to remember to do is to encourage people to both share their vision and then also to try to visualize more effectively. It is not a matter of “if you can see it, you can do it” – it really is a lot deeper, you have to see it, and communicate it to other’s, otherwise it is not a vision, it is a daydream.
anyhoo. my two-cents in a flash.
footnote.
I love the quote from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid regarding vision … (Butch, speaking to Sundance):
“Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.”
pvos
awesome…
double awesome.
how about this quote:
“(Vision) reaches beyond the thing that is, into the conception of what can be. Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own.” (Robert Collier)
kind of gives the “making the invisible, visible” idea a leg up – but I guess that Eph. 3:9 made it pretty clear too …
I agree about vision giving you “the impulse to make the picture your own”. At the same time, I have a hard time about anyone “owning” a vision … visions must, by nature, be shared. (and yes, I know he wrote about owning a picture, not the vision, I do think it is important to draw the distinction – but this is a dialogue, oui?).
pvos
Vision is being pierced in the heart with a thought, an idea, a view that guides your life till the vision is realized.
not to hog the discussion topic choosing, but considering the lapsed (why does this word look like word for “children” in Finnish to me, only misspelled, there’s studying for ya) time. Guess my next word is…
Devotion
devotion: my definition – to spend an inordinate amount of time doing something, or being with someone or something. To spend oneself completely on something.
The question becomes, then, what does “inordinate” mean in the above case? Most definitions go with the negative; “excessive: beyond normal limits”, “extreme”, “excess: immoderation as a consequence of going beyond sufficient or permitted limits”.
Let’s break it down, Mr. Etymology style. in + ordinate. in, being the negative side so many focus on, from the Latin prefix meaning “not” or “without” and ordinate being the Latin (them Latins were into everything) meaning to arrange or order. Ordinate is also the value of a coordinate on the vertical (or Y) axis. It is also often used when discussing time or regularity. It is also (and this is the funny one) the word that we Xians use when we speak of someone as being “put into order” within the church; e.g., “He was ordained”, “they be ordinated”, etc..
But.
If I say that I spend an inordinate amount of time doing something, I am speaking of doing it with no thought of time or distance. I literally do it “without order”. I do it not thinking of how long it may take, nor how much it will cost. I am “devoted” to it. I guess I’m devoted to playing Irish whistle, ’cause when I play, I forget time altogether and just play. Tune after tune keeps on coming, and if I draw a blank, I find some music and keep on going.
According to a real dictionary, to devote means “To give one’s time, focus one’s efforts, commit oneself, etc. entirely for, on, or to a certain matter.” So being devoted without limits, inordinately, is not a bad thing. Artists are devoted to their art. We all should be devoted to worship. God is devoted to his creation, man.
starting to ramble … need to focus … back to work