Sense of perspective

There was a death in the family this week. So this week’s edition is in honour of Alan Callick.

If he was alive now as I type this I guess he’d have mixed reactions about being able to reach so many people so easily and share a point of view with relative ease.

Alan was of a generation where great thoughts and deeds took longer to form into stories as technology was always one step behind the demands on society.  Few could fly, few could make long distance calls, few had computers in which to solve complex math problems and few had any knowledge of anything but the immediate world around them.  Library’s were the central deposit of information, the internet had yet to be born and when you rang someone using the analogue dial you were literally making sparks at a switch board in the centre of town...

Now there is an ingenuity gap between the pace of technology and our ability to catch up with it.  The minority are no longer the ones who have-not’s but in many instances the ‘have’s.  We have all this technology but still it appears are the same core frustrations that plague us.  It’s easy to get all ‘sixth-from’ essay about this but the truth is often very obvious.

Digging out of the attic this week an old acorn electron with programs in cassettes made me smile as I laughed at its primitive nature and design.  But I do remember this being the focus of all my attention and how we all marvelled at the schools first computer with disk drive... I still get excited about new things. My focus is often distracted by the latest HD t.v. offering or speedy laptop.  That inherent wonder on all things has remained constant as I’ve grown up.  If that’s a constant, then maybe the level to which it’s satisfied is also constant.  To come to terms and accept that perhaps is a wonderful thing. It must be wonderful to let go frustration, to let go anxiety and to let go of the pace of life which is now so fast and fierce.

If we’re contributors to this world then let’s do so and design not only with integrity, detail and high standards of quality, but also with humility that nothing is around here for long.  Soon stuff gets stuffed in the attic or thrown away.  The most important and enduring elements of our life last beyond our human frame and physical surroundings.  The most important elements of our design are that of spirit, love and energy.

Keep those dear and they’ll last forever.

 have a good weekend and enjoy your family and friends.

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