Day 12 Belonging everywhere and nowhere, again

Yesterday I had a meeting with my professor, and he gave me some solid advice. I had a lot of questions about the course and my voice within it. How much of my thinking and creative research should I share in the assignment? It turns out: only what is necessary.

He told me this: most product designers work more like carpenters than painters. The work has to fit the client and their requirements. There are only very few “star designers” who get to make more experimental work. This is the same advice another friend gave me about two years ago. I listened and took a deep breath.

For a moment, I paused. Who do I think I am? Do I think I am special? Why should I aim for something so unlikely? It really is an old question in my life. When I decided to move into art at age 16, I was asked the same thing. Why choose this path if most people fail? Why should you be special?

I don’t need to be famous. It doesn’t really matter to me if some design magazine writes about me or not. But outside of official assignments, as much as I can, I feel like I need to pursue my creative passions — and I need to do so in a way that invites others to enjoy them with me. How could I ever hope to get the kind of work that lights my brain up if nobody knows I can do it?

There is also another element to this story. Maybe it’s petty, but I imagine 100 students hearing this advice. I imagine their reactions, some more deflated than others. How many of them will still aim high? How many will continue to share their strange and wonderful ideas? If most of them believe this story, how many percent are left still shooting for the stars?

There is a quote my mother loves. It goes something like this: everyone knew it couldn’t be done, then someone came along who didn’t know that — and just did it. Are these creative dreams truly impossible, or do they only appear that way because we’re approaching them from the wrong angle?

In that meeting, I also remembered a talk by Bréne Brown about a Maya Angelou quote: to belong everywhere and nowhere. This is about belonging to oneself. I am an artist studying product design — an artist who moved to the other side of the planet because she believed in stories. I wanted a path of my own, a peculiar tale. Before I left, I asked myself: why would I want to hear the story of someone doing the exact same thing as everyone else?

I don’t have all the answers, but I do know this: my creativity fuels my will to live. It doesn’t matter what kind of work I end up doing, or for how long. I need to keep watering this plant.

I hope you are well wherever you are,
Celine