When I am feeling a little lost. When I am feeling alone or confused I have a tendency to seek a point of reference to help make my mind be still. For me, that point of reference that offers that sweet stillness is Robert Frost. So I sit down and I let Robert tell me about the Road not taken. And the Road not taken is this:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
You can take from that what you will, but I personally take from it this.....
I am one traveler, capable of only taking one road at a time. I could waste endless brain power and energy wondering where other roads would have taken me, or wondering what paths I will happen upon next but it would be just that, a waste.
I am not hung up about where I'll be, or even where I've been. I have never been the type of person to regret or to rue past mistakes. Mistake is a dirty word because all mistakes really are are lessons, and the only shame in making them is if you fail to learn from them.
When people ask me 'what design studio I want to work for" or how I'm going to go about 'becoming a designer', I get a little annoyed. What is a designer, anyway? Are we designers already, fledglings though we are? Does having a job magically transform you into one? And why does this degree have to define me? Define my paths in life? Dictate my future? It doesn't.
This degree to me is not my be all and end all. Perhaps it's that thinking that will be my down fall in the end. Maybe it will be the difference between a Pass and a Fail, a mediocre grade or a great one. I don't care.
This degree is a skill set. It is something to be applied in life, in work, in play. It's another side, another facet I can claim I own, to apply in whatever way I see fit.
The way I see it is that life is about passion. A lot of things have happened or not happened this year to make me question the passions in my life and what is important to me. I don't fancy being cooped up in a studio designing corporate identities. That's not creativity to me.
I started life out of high school wanting to be a hair dresser. Obviously that didn't happen. Why? Would I have been good at it? Most definitely. Would I have enjoyed it? I dare say I would have. Why didn't I do it? Because people told me not to. Lesson learned. So now I don't listen to what people say, I listen to myself.
The truth is, I have never been sure of what I wanted to 'do with my life'. Did I think Vis comm was going to be the solution to my problems? Heck no, but it was a starting point. It was the road not taken, so I took it and it will no doubt lead me to another way, another path, another endeavor and boy am I excited to see what it might be.
I don't make plans. Plans get broken. I have dreams instead because no one can take those away from me. So on that note, I leave you with a story that my friend was kind enough to tell me last night about some tiny frogs:
The story about the tiny frogs....
There once was a bunch of tiny frogs, who arranged a running competition.The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants...
The race began...
Honestly:
No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:
"Oh, WAY too difficult!!
They will NEVER make it to the top."
or:
"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one. Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell
"It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up...
Until only one continued and eventually, made it to the top.
Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: That frog was deaf.
The moral of the story is this: Never let other people's negative and pessimistic attitudes affect you or make you doubt all that you are capable of. Take pride in doing what people have told you you cannot do. Strive. Achieve. Dream. Take the road not taken.
Remember the wisdom of words, and the power of them. Everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore: ALWAYS be POSITIVE!
And above all: Be DEAF when people tell you that you cannot fulfill your dreams. Be deaf to words like 'wrong', 'can't', 'wont', 'never' or 'mistake'
In conclusion, I have always believed that life is quite scary but waking up and realizing you never lived yours is a scarier thought still.
I hope this wasn't too soppy, cliche and unoriginal. I won't judge anyone for not reading until the end.
-Nadia X
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
You can take from that what you will, but I personally take from it this.....
I am one traveler, capable of only taking one road at a time. I could waste endless brain power and energy wondering where other roads would have taken me, or wondering what paths I will happen upon next but it would be just that, a waste.
I am not hung up about where I'll be, or even where I've been. I have never been the type of person to regret or to rue past mistakes. Mistake is a dirty word because all mistakes really are are lessons, and the only shame in making them is if you fail to learn from them.
When people ask me 'what design studio I want to work for" or how I'm going to go about 'becoming a designer', I get a little annoyed. What is a designer, anyway? Are we designers already, fledglings though we are? Does having a job magically transform you into one? And why does this degree have to define me? Define my paths in life? Dictate my future? It doesn't.
This degree to me is not my be all and end all. Perhaps it's that thinking that will be my down fall in the end. Maybe it will be the difference between a Pass and a Fail, a mediocre grade or a great one. I don't care.
This degree is a skill set. It is something to be applied in life, in work, in play. It's another side, another facet I can claim I own, to apply in whatever way I see fit.
The way I see it is that life is about passion. A lot of things have happened or not happened this year to make me question the passions in my life and what is important to me. I don't fancy being cooped up in a studio designing corporate identities. That's not creativity to me.
I started life out of high school wanting to be a hair dresser. Obviously that didn't happen. Why? Would I have been good at it? Most definitely. Would I have enjoyed it? I dare say I would have. Why didn't I do it? Because people told me not to. Lesson learned. So now I don't listen to what people say, I listen to myself.
The truth is, I have never been sure of what I wanted to 'do with my life'. Did I think Vis comm was going to be the solution to my problems? Heck no, but it was a starting point. It was the road not taken, so I took it and it will no doubt lead me to another way, another path, another endeavor and boy am I excited to see what it might be.
I don't make plans. Plans get broken. I have dreams instead because no one can take those away from me. So on that note, I leave you with a story that my friend was kind enough to tell me last night about some tiny frogs:
The story about the tiny frogs....
There once was a bunch of tiny frogs, who arranged a running competition.The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants...
The race began...
Honestly:
No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:
"Oh, WAY too difficult!!
They will NEVER make it to the top."
or:
"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one. Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher.
The crowd continued to yell
"It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up...
Until only one continued and eventually, made it to the top.
Well, I'll let you in on a little secret: That frog was deaf.
The moral of the story is this: Never let other people's negative and pessimistic attitudes affect you or make you doubt all that you are capable of. Take pride in doing what people have told you you cannot do. Strive. Achieve. Dream. Take the road not taken.
Remember the wisdom of words, and the power of them. Everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore: ALWAYS be POSITIVE!
And above all: Be DEAF when people tell you that you cannot fulfill your dreams. Be deaf to words like 'wrong', 'can't', 'wont', 'never' or 'mistake'
In conclusion, I have always believed that life is quite scary but waking up and realizing you never lived yours is a scarier thought still.
I hope this wasn't too soppy, cliche and unoriginal. I won't judge anyone for not reading until the end.
-Nadia X
