THE article.
“Conquer the Mind, Conquer the World.” What intrigued us on reading the overarching theme of the Designathon 2020 was it’s emphasis on such essential but, intangible hence overlook aspects of Hope and Resilience as a part of design. We both as students of design were very fortunate to have gotten a chance to understand human behaviour, their relationship with oneself and their surrounding, their biases, drives and other intricate details of why we do, what we do. Since the brief spoke about ‘Adapting to the Changing times - Creating Awareness, Facilitating Learning and Education.’, we decided to look at this with an even more humane perspective and channelise this more inwards which would ultimately be what one would naturally project outwards. We realised that ‘coping and embracing the changes and uncertainties’ around us is a major skill and it can find its roots in being able to first deal with our internal emotions, feelings and fears which more often than not, we fail to acknowledge and address.This is a key reason as to why we stay unaware of what is going on within our mind when things around us change resulting in emotions like fear of the unknown or letting go, confusion, stress, difficulty in adapting and other negative emotions. We as designers aimed to look at resilience, which is the key to adapting to dynamic environment as a SKILL that can be developed via inner- awareness. As our design solution we propose a gamified experiential platform that helps the users learn about themselves, become more aware of their own feelings, emotions, reactions and behaviours and build a better and stronger relationship with one’s own self. Which would eventually help them build a new and a kinder perspective of looking at themselves, others around them and the curve balls that the life throws. We hope to provide a solution in the form of an platform that empowers and enables one to draw strength and guidance from one’s inner self at the face of adversity and uncertainty and not let them lose sense of focus, identity, purpose and commitment. Scope : The interactive platform is meant for the tech savvy young working adult, but not limited to this user group. It is for anyone wanting to explore and be aware of their emotions, responses to situations and develop their own coping strategies in the face of crisis. The concept can further be developed into tangible artefacts or experiences through a space or workshops.
Limitations : Even though technology is being leveraged to make this journey of self awareness accessible, the use of a digital platform itself maybe a hinderance to disconnecting with the outer world and bringing stillness and quiet to connect with the inner self.
“The journey Inwards is about finding your own fullness that no one and nothing can take away”