Note to my younger design self.

As a designer , artists or creative - maybe you can relate to this next little story - A very long while ago i was introduced to my very much younger self - although the medium of artistic expression was different, the insatiable need for validation and approval was exactly the same as me at that same age. I was sitting chatting to folk as one does, when i was touched on the shoulder by my younger self and asked if i wanted to see a handstand. i said sure - and my younger self proceeded an attempt at a 4 year old hand stand. Not at all very good but because i was me and recognized my own need for validation from people, i said - wow what a fantastic handstand. well that small sentence opened the gates of handstand attempting Muizenberg garden world championships.

My younger self  had hands on the ground more than feet and i felt compelled or even forced to say after each attempt - wow - incredible - amazing. I did this because i used to do the same with my drawing attempts.  I would rustle up a sketch of a cowboy or an eagle and show the sketch to everyone - that need for affirmation drove me to my next sketch. So the fact that im still sketching and pushing ideas, i now recognize my handstand self. The difference now at 47 years, i dont  have this insatiable need for external affirmation as i did back then. Hay dont get me wrong - i love any small wow or oohs or even an aaagh  - but i recognize when its real or not. so i do my handstand - good bad and downright ugly - i stand up and simply do another one. If i have the privilege of an audience thats awesome. However whats driving me to put my hands onto the floor again isnt the need for their affirmation anymore.

However i do try self artistically evaluate - mostly the sketches are to make sense of a fleeting design concept. Capture the butterfly of creative thought in a sketch - I must say my ability to capture doesn't equal the imagined concept in my head - It always seems like i almost get my artistic expressive  legs in the air, before i come crashing down to the earth again. But hay the point of this is - one must never stop trying to communicate your artistic ideas. So many highly talented, super sensitive creative gifted people stop creating because of a lack of appreciation of their expression from the "audience". The audience of critics is secondary to the creative itch you must simply keep scratching my creative friend.

That to me is extremely sad -  a young close relative of mine used to love singing and at 7 they used to sing around the house and fill the space with such enthusiasm and lovely warm vibrant sound energy. I really loved it. I made the complete and absolute fatal mistake of encouraging them to share this energy. I told them to sing infront of an audience panel for a school assignment - The panel of teachers where sadly simply not equipped to deal with the handstand build to gymnast creative phenomena process. Brutal dystopian honesty was the Orwellian 1984 given mindset. The sad upshot of that is the young relative,  now 18yrs has not ever filled the space with her beautiful voice since then. They where emphatically handstand silenced by the critic audience - they where very nervous , and possibly didn't sing as well as they could - instead of encouraging further development of the expressive skill at 7,  it was very important for the non educator audience inquisition gestapo to crush them completely. Why educators are determined to crush potentail and destroy artistic expression is beyond me. To much attitude SC (Simon Cowell) - people think its their god given right and duty to tell artistic expressionists and exhibitionists to please stop right now - lets face it - have you heard ol Simon Critic sing? - i haven't - maybe he can - maybe he cant - but he is currently the self appointed absolute final say on singing ability - And yes for the show its absolutely necessary. The audience loves a good creative assassination. A rip and tear of the fragile irresdecence of ethereal creative beauty.

We need more human driven creativity and artistic expression in all mediums. Its not just open to the few absolutely gifted ones at the very top of the artistic tree. Its everyones absolute life duty to find their medium of expression and fill the space with it. 

For more artistic expressive beauty in this life - we simply need more handstand expressionists. We must not ever stifle creative expression - critics to my mind cant usually do what they criticize, therefore to look creatively and artistically capable they with much venom criticize the timid handstanders. Having the guts to perform is the hardest obstacle facing the creative expressionist - even if you draw stick men - draw , draw , draw - i love stick men - because that stick man drawn, with that pen, by you - is one of a kind - and we need more one of a kind originality in this drab ol grey critic fueled world of robotic soon to be everything heading in the same direction limited A.I. fervor.

Be very careful who you hand your artistic expressive ear to. They will mould you away or towards immense artistic self expressive satisfaction. 

Stagnant waters born of downhill greed

Most humans now living and who have died act and acted just like water running easily downhill. We all simply take the path of least resistance, until we hit an uphill challenge that stops us dead in our tracks. Uphills or challenge blockages cause us to stagnate in a quagmire of our own putridity. We hope the collective dam up will try with brute force in unison to overcome the challenge of a blockage. The reality is a new easy path around is now sought and found. Often we go in a completely different direction. Water downhill is always probing the easy way around new challenges. We all know very well some challenges have no easy way around. Only a hard cold consequence of our limited in the moment actions. Looking for direction with knowledge after working around challenges leads to wisdom.  Wisdom is mostly hindsight, knowledge. It is the thousands of facts leading to an end result. We cant see through to the wisdom of an issue until all the knowledge facts have been put in place and show us the results of our easy route water downhill actions.

This build up of collective knowledge, accumulated by the lazy easy flow route water types through generations. Doesnt always lead to the desired destination. Easy flow water greedy drowners who have not stopped to ever analyse the very big infront of them uphill blockage picture. A blockage challenge mostly created by the build up of other easy flow decision makers.

Sadly and its in fact true most humans are across the board lazy, greedy and reactive to the water downhill path finding technique. There are a few humans that are not wired this way. However those very few are the rare diamonds, the outliers, the ones setting the real benchmark for others in the future. They are very few and very far between in the collective liquid morass of humanities easy flood water route downhill collective. 

For the most part we all fit this model of the human collective easiest route downhill water trait. A type of easy communistic group think approach, lazy minded water downhill operatives rely on other mostly less competent path finders to lead in finding the easiest route downhill. All fanatically wanting maximum benefit with absolutely minimum input. 

its not more obvious than in the hippo story. The story told to the incredible writer TV Bulpin by a very wise old man many years ago. its a fact that the highways and byways of Africa are filled to the brim with age old collective knowledge and deep wisdom. One has to have one ear to the ground one to the heavens, your feet firmly planted in the rich soil and hands that continually reach for the stars to benefit from this collective over time wisdom. 

The human diamonds are generally those who have lived through real life experience. Who can now articulate the lesson clearly for like minded humans. Who are not wired like the fat fingered greedy lazy collective water downhill group thinkers.

The hippo story narrated by this wise old man to this famous writer is perhaps now well known. i am certainly not wise. I am like most humans, an easy route downhill water operative. However as age and reality converge with hindsight i am in a small way understanding lifes putridity muddles. Perhaps me retelling it wont do it justice. Perhaps the lesson will still be lost. However our current outcomes of reality is in itself justice enough for our short sightedness and lazy approach. 

Drought, lack of rain, burst dams and complete mayhem is the legacy of the easy route downhill human. Our collective blocked challenge putridity dam. In reality leads to total destruction of all eco systems. The greedy fat fingered are always allowed to wantingly act with blood slaughtering impunity. As the rest of us easy downhill water minds watch with incredulous non committal disgust. 

The condensed version of the hippo story told by the wise man to the writer is as such. (Google it for full version. If you are like me, water downhill, read on for the synaptic version) 

The hippo story goes, in central Africa somewhere southish, many years ago in an area now completely drought striken, with no water, there once was a huge lake In an area with very limited rainfall. This vast lake provided beautiful water to a parched land with very rich soil. Further north of this dam was a morass of reads and swamps inhabited by many hippo. Explorers who took the time to document there findings, wrote of this now non existant lake, so it did exist. However now its completely evaporated with little hint it was ever present.  

The story goes that to tame a land is to render it useless to all. So the Locals who lived north of the lake where getting harrased by many hippo. These huge herbivores that kill the most humans in Africa. These wise custonians of the wetlands, whos eyes peak above the water line. Watching this soft but squishy naked ape who has mastered the art of destructive tool making. The tools we design well and most effectively are the ruinous type. Those tools that seek to destroy life rather than enhance it. So it was with this story. The inhabitants got sick of beating drums all night keeping the hippos away. They got sick of living next to the challenge of the ever watchful hippos. So they traded all there material things and all the animal wealth pelts and furs in there area for powerful guns to slaughter the hippos. These weapons of mass destruction where to get rid of the threat of the water downhill hippos. The greedy humans that sold the guns came and took all the furs and pelts by the wagon load from the area. The easy slaughter with guns of many hippos began. Every easy water downhill pathfinder was now licking lips happy. Over time the greed and bloodlust mixed into accummulative hindsight knowledge but sadly has never distilled into much needed wisdom. Why can one say this? Because we are a cut, paste history repeat animal. Only we grow progressively worse in our total annihilation of eco systems with each succeeding generation.  

The rains far up north came as they do every year. But with no herbivore hippo to create easy water pathways through the reeds. The water built up behind the reeds like a putrid stagnant morass blockage. The intricate pathways through the morass was now completely blocked. With no hippos to create the flow. Water did what water does. It finds a new easier pathway downhill. The dam that relied on the rains far up north dried up, the life giving rain water found a quicker route to the sea and life in that once abundantly rich area ceased to exist. It was now a dry hot dust bowl. Those living around the abundantly rich life lake saw clumps of reeds wash down at first, then nothing, the rain water tap had been turned completely off.

The greedy fat fingered fur wagoneers moved off to a knew slaughtering ground. The short sighted locals who sold there birthright for red hippo stew left with more issues than answers. Heads hung low finding a new area with life giving water. Often the solution offered by greedy men is the destruction of a beautiful way of life. Quick easy fix mongers full of confidence but no wisdom. 

For those willing to listen we are left a now long forgotten story for a lesson for those sick of being an easy downhill water direction decision maker. A long forgotten story playing out every day in all parts of the world. We have still not learned from these vital ancient lessons.

Only when our collective destructive nature is quelled and those amongst us who are greedy and short sighted become wise, die or change their selfish perspective. Will we start to put back into our precious eco systems more than we currently taking out. The fine balance of nature is sadly destroyed by the intervention of the fat finger greedy merchants of selfish desire. 

Beware, beware of  snake oil salesman and the slaughter everything gun running peddlers so abundant today. These greedy short sighted easy water path downhill operatives are a massive danger to those who are truelly wise.

We need wild spaces, mankinds cities need to be defined within the wild spaces. We tame lands and we destroy continents.