Design is Life.

This class (Form, Space, and Order) asks us to develop our personal design philosophies. As I understand it, this is something that people develop for years; it's your chance to discover, develop, and define what your voice is, much like writing or any other creative art. It takes practice, in one way or another, over years. I've more or less developed what my writing voice is, although I honestly couldn't tell you what it is. However, I do know just who I am, and that's thanks to years of experience -- as someone closing in on 40 (I will be 39 this winter), I've seen and accomplished quite a lot, and have had many opportunities for self reflection. Applying all of this to interior design has been a challenge since I don't have experience in this area, like most of my fellow students, however, I understand that this is a starting point from the perspective of the bigger picture.

The process our class went through in developing our philosophies threw me for a loop at first, merely because I wasn't sure what was expected. I've done brainstorming before, but my particular process jumps immediately from brainstorming into developing and creating without a pause, and then editing down. I found myself grasping from exercise to exercise, and it wasn't until we presented our initial collages that it all coalesced for me. That's when it clicked and I understood, and helped me gel my ideas along with what we were being asked to do. I have since refined my collage, although my philosophy definitely has not changed; I've merely been able to communicate it one thousand times better, visually.

When it comes to interior design, I treat it as an integral way of life and not stage-setting. My philosophy stems from not just being eco-conscious, but earth-centered: being "green" is spiritual as well as ethical and an aesthetic. I am enthusiastic about life, and design should be deeply tied to it: organic, practical, beautiful, comfortable, edited, eclectic, playful and unexpected. I am committed to earthy design that isn't stuck in the mud, but rather evokes wonder and deep contentment.

We've been asked to also present several template options that tie into our philosophies. I feel that I have already come up with something that reflects my philosophy, so I am hesitant to do more. I recognize that I will want to tweak my blog's current look later, mainly because I can grow bored even with looks I absolutely love and I want change. Right now I like what I have, so I am not keen to change -- yet. What I would like to do is have some space and time to really think and consider more potential looks, which I don't really have at the moment. What I will likely end up doing is changing and tweaking things a little at a time as class progresses.

What do you think? If anyone has input or feedback for me, I would love to hear it.