Life, Beauty and the future therein

“Life is truly lived when the subtleties of beauty are sensed and seen, held beneath the skin: fully consumed.”

The romantic mind has a way of seeing, well beyond nuance into a deeper realm of beauty. A layer the jaded eye can no longer see, till shown under light of joy and the lens of love. Life is truly lived when the subtleties of beauty are sensed and seen, held beneath the skin: fully consumed. It is my belief that beauty stays with us, resonates within the hallows of our minds and bodies, sticks to our bones, nourishes the marrow. Beauty is a contradiction, it plays with our heart rate, an erratic inspiration, through eye and through hand: emotion and the physical form. 

“Symphony” chair by SENTIENT designer/proprietor Nersi Nasseri

“It is the space between idealism and the pragmatic that beauty resides, vacillating the to and fro: who we are and need to become.”

Seeing beauty in this time before us, eases our forward pace as the milestones of change slowly come to pass. It is not that beauty is the resolve, but the salve upon our minds, a resting place for the eye, pillow for the hopeful soul. To navigate the path forward is to know who we are, what we need and what nourishes, beyond sustenance of food and drink. It is the space between idealism and the pragmatic that beauty resides, vacillating the to and fro: who we are and need to become. The future is here, awaiting our seeing, our actions of doing , amongst the beauty and the ruin. 

To resolve forward will take a cavalcade of the like minded, the angry, romantic, visionary and builder: the circumvention of government, charlatans and false hoods. To resolve forward will demand our dexterity, our knowing from the gut, creative mind and strength of hand. It will take all this and more, all of us, in: acceptance of our failures, beauty in the eye of the seer. 

Vertical farm proposal for Brooklyn neighborhoods by designers Framlab

Define

We have lead ourselves to a time unlike no other, a time of crumbling governments, and the natural world. And in the middle of this we are still questioning our social norms of equality and our own self care. What is it that we are looking for that has brought us to a place of such ruin, or perhaps what have we lost is the better question. 

Often I think it’s not that we have lost our way, but seeking ourselves, searching for what we have dug out: discarded and assumed lost.  Like the minerals we’ve dug out since the Industrial Revolution, we have too, dug out the essence of who we are, our wonder and sense of place: who we are or think we are.

As a society, we have subjugated our emotions and brain capacity with technology, negating who we are for the sake of bravado of progress. We are at a place where so much is imploding from erosion of the self, so much so that the future seems ill fated, lacking the will that has moved us. Though soft in flesh it’s not weak in bone, as hope is born in the marrow. We know who we are, what we’ve done and can do. Its now perhaps a matter of reinterpretation, re-order and define. 

“As humans we are not easily definable, but what we have in common, the love of beauty, the spine of will and the soul of hope, tethers our humanity.”

If we are to accomplish what we have set out, we need to define a better picture of who we are, and follow our vision through will and through hope. Though difficult, as constraining water, a necessary process if we are to build the future we wish to see. As humans we are not easily definable, but what we have in common, the love of beauty, the spine of will and the soul of hope, tethers our humanity. 

Through the innate and creative self, the future possible is attainable. To see beauty, know will and to have hope, defines the path forward. And to know who we can be, defines the future. 

Architecture, society and the future. Extinction Rebellion, Waugh Thistleton Architects, Maria Smith, Adrian Lahoud and more delivered presentations on climate change at the Barbican Centre.

Seeing

Oftentimes we find ourselves wondering where time has gone. Where are those memories we safely tucked away, soon to find them, missing. We focus so much on our goals and proving ourselves, we skim over living: the here and now and nuanced beauty, layered within the passing minutes. We are distracted by the bells and whistles, the ping of our phones, scrolling images, noise. So much so that we miss the point of living, always searching for what we already have. Searching for what’s next.

“Beauty is a portal to life: time traveler, historian, wormhole to who we are, elixir.” 

Beauty, with its magic has its ploy, pulls us from the frenzy of our everyday. When we’re seeing, life opens up, pauses, allowing us to see beyond its surface edges. Beauty is a portal to life: time traveler, historian, wormhole to who we are, elixir. 

It’s not enough for us to look, but to see and to listen, capture the nuances of moments that pass. To feel the bark of a tree with our eyes, fingers, memory and emotion. Know its deeper movement, complicated roots of support and communication. See its leaves that fall and cling, its buds that burst and bloom. To move amongst the trees is to see time changing, to see beauty, know history: humble in our lives fleeting. 

We are mortals, part of a circular system: of beauty and wonder, beginning and end, singular and plural. Beauty attracts us, ties us with a thread of history. Human on a planet of others, bee in a hive.

Awareness

In our contemporary world of uncertainty and fear, we find ourselves in greater need to feel safe and our lives validated. To feel weighted in the realm of emotional overwhelm and tectonic shifting. This is normal, nothing new in our emotional landscaping, except that the scale has gotten higher, broader and deeper in our psyche. As our fears rise, what lowers is our sense of self in the shadow of the future and the glare of how today looks to be. This is a universal picture, a sense of awakening and a pang of unknowing. Be it a social shift or fracturing, a movement non the less.

To live amongst the realm of change is a mindset, to see who we are and how we wish to live. To surround oneself with inspiration. To support and be supported. A mindset shift as well as a life style shift, in endeavors of emotion and action: to be calm and create calm, have love and give love. All this leads to fulfillment, an awakening to our personal needs and the needs of others, as we hurl towards the troubling future. This is personally where I am, shifting from the past to build a clearer picture, a better map as I stumble through doubt and anxiety of who I am today, never mind the future. As big as this may sound, its not, its the realization that to see change, one must be change, and stepping into that light. Not perfect. One step before another. 

“Seeing where we are enables our approach to the future, allowing us to find resolve, and build a better tomorrow.”

Beauty and the creative realms have a strong place in our lives, they speak to who we are: our historic lineage. They express and validate our human experience, ease our minds and resolve the issues that face us. It is the innate creative mind that inspires, we know this by what we wear and how move through our day. To appreciate our surroundings and experiences builds memories that move with us forward, vacillating emotion and relieving the sense of the unknown. Seeing where we are enables our approach to the future, allowing us to find resolve, and build a better tomorrow. We know who we are, we’ve built our past, though muddied by the current myopic. 

Spiraling structure BIG architects

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Sifting for my own satori, hoping for my own in the making.

No longer in the want of the parenthetic, looking to simplify and quiet. 

Silent, for my own satori. 

Who Are We

Who are we in this world: this whirling, spitting, cracked planet. No better than the bugs beneath our feet, I think, nor larger than the trees we dismantle. Who are we but fearful and hopeful beings, capable of much beauty, yet blind to the facts of our potential: our place in this world, kindred ties to the stars. 

“We are the mirror to our surroundings, product of our making, designed by what we have, designed.” 

Who are we but who we say we are, what we do and how we love: create and destroy. We are the mirror to our surroundings, product of our making, designed by what we have, designed. 

Who are we. Where are we. Where are we going. 

‘We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more.’

Susan Sontag

Is it that we lost sight of who we are and where we’re going, or that we know but wish not to see. To turn left, one negates right, but that does not mean it no longer exists. This is living. Life as we know it: who we are.

Carl Barnett Design/Studio Acrylic painting on canvas

Who are we but flesh, bone and history, specks amongst others: nudges to the pendulum of life’s direction. 

Who are we but hope, will and the desire to discover who we are: to accept and dwell within.

Who are we. Where are we going.

Carl Barnett Design/Studio. Crumpled and printed paper.