In the first week of car design school, we were told that design is, in essence, manipulating materials to cause emotional impact. With the skills that we would be taught, one would be able to create a feeling of luxury, toughness, sophistication or whatever is needed, out of the same materials used to create the opposite. We would be magicians that could turn a sheet of steel into something desirable, or a piece of cardstock into a beautiful packaging that would turn the opening of a new mobile phone into a near immaculate experience (thanks, Apple). Pretentiousness aside, one could argue that a beautiful form stamped in sheet metal does not cost any more or less (material wise) than a shitty form.
Reflecting on this concept in the last year has made me realize that we are all sheets of steel. We all have the potential to be something greater and more beautiful than our original makeup. If you allow yourself to let go of your past, you will become malleable so that new influences may come and form your future self.
You are the director, the sculptor, and the end product.
No matter what our past failures or successes, as long as we are breathing, we have to ability to reinvent ourselves. On Joe Rogan’s podcast with Danica Patrick, a professional race car driver, the topic turned from her very successful career in racing to her current passion, making wine and fashion. Her demeanor became bright, her eyes widened, and her vocal tonality shifted. It was fascinating to watch someone who had worked so hard to become one of the sport’s most successful race car drivers to happily drop it and move toward her true passion. As with most occupations, once you delve into the nuances, it may not be as awesome as it may seem from the outside. When people heard me vocalize my desire for leaving working on one of the world’s most successful video games, many would ask in surprise, “Why? You made it! You get paid to draw!”
But things change.
The world changed. People changed. I changed.
One day you’re happy with a 50 cent apple caramel lollipop, and the next day you want a dry-aged bone-in ribeye. My 60-year-old future self is already telling me to bust my ass rather than wait until his age. Opportunity and action can be scary without a clear vision of the future, but hindsight and clear regret is a buzzkill you can’t come back from.
You may have plenty of factors that have solidified around you in your respective field. A high executive position, championship-level skills, employees or colleagues that depend on you. Whatever it may be, if it doesn’t make you happy, it may be time for a shift into another form of steel. That world will survive without you. Your dreams, however, won’t.
They need you.
Fuck yeah, it’s Friday!
