More/Than/This (Blog) ™

MoreThanThisBlog™ is a collection of curated commentary on the past, present and future state of design. It is one part personal, two parts communal, three parts practical, four parts speculative and five parts in progress.

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Quote No. 104

Life is just so daily.

– Dick Sattler

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Fun little experiment, imploring the curiosity of strangers. 

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Quote No. 103

I like what the dancer Martha Graham once said, that each of us is unique and if we didn’t exist something in the world would have been lost. I wonder, then, why we are so quick to conform—and what the world has lost because we have.

– Anne Lamott 

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New project launching soon! 

We’re publishing a book of lessons (on live, love, God, design and otherwise) from friends, colleagues and strangers from around the globe. Interested in participating? Great. We’d like to hear from you. Please consider sharing the good you’ve learned by responding to this question:

What do you know now, that you wish you knew then?

You may contribute anonymously (if you wish), by post or by email, in any form/media you desire. 

Submissions due by Oct. 1, 2015.

Post: 4303 Hamilton Ave. No. 2 Cincinnati OH 45223 Email: [email protected]

XO. Good karma for you. Share with friends if you’d like.

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Lesson No. 005

Success only means you gain access to better problems.

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Quote No. 102

Yes, we are created for community, to be there, in love, for one another. But community cuts both ways: when we reach the limits of our own capacity to love, community means trusting that someone else will be available to the person in need. 

– Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

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A gift. From two of our favorite residents at People’s Liberty. Noted and quoted and burned into some wood. Excellent.

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Lesson No. 004

No work on Sundays.

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Lesson No. 003

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

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On 3.14.15 (Pi Day) at 9:26AM (get it?) I'll be joining friends at Hub+Weber Architects in Covington, KY to talk pie, design and community. Context. PieLab. Boom. Past meets present...

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On daydreaming

Unlike any other form of thought, daydreaming is its own reward. For regardless of the result (if any), the very process of daydreaming is pleasurable. And, I would guess, is probably a psychological necessity. 

For isn't it in our daydreams that we acquire some sense of what we are about? Where we try on futures and practice our voices before committing ourselves to words or deeds? 

Daydreaming is where we go to cultivate the self, or, more likely, selves, out of the view of people. Without its daydreams, the self is apt to shrink down to the size and shape of the estimation of others.

– Michael Pollan, A Place of My Own

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On love

Great read, no matter your persuasion. Love, Love.

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On urban renewal

How can cities encourage growth but also provide a sense of continuity? The prevailing urban question of our time.  Does the rising tide lift all boats? Is blight better than gourmet bone broth? Pop-up placemaking a substitute for proper housing? How do we redevelop responsibly? This article offers up a few examples, namely Melrose Commons in the Bronx and Cully Main Street Plan in Portland. Good fodder.

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Special thanks to Design Feast for allowing me to wax poetically (sorta) about why I’m a designer...and other stuff.

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Hope as Rebellion

In her interview with Quaker elder Parker Palmer and journalist Courtney Martin, Krista Tippet discusses the inner work of sustainable and resilient social change. Peppered with anecdote and historical reflection, this talk dives deep into the series of paradoxes experienced by today's socially-engaged generation and begs the question of how we might become both reflective and activist at once; to be in service as much as in charge. The trio warns that in our internet age, efficiency has become the oppressor, suggesting instead that we must position faithfulness on top of effectiveness. 

A powerful listen for anyone endeavoring to shape themselves and shape the world simultaneously. 

Take time to pause. Find your hope. Enjoy.

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When's the last time you did something that you felt was truly brave? I was incredibly inspired by Brene Brown's highly-viewed 2010 Ted Talk where she introduces this notion of power in vulnerability. 

Recently, I stumbled upon this episode of On Being, where Brown dives deeper into the topic, suggesting that an openness to the challenging circumstances we're wired to avoid can actually lead to more whole-hearted living. 

"Vulnerability is courage; it's about the willingness to show up and be seen in our lives. It's these moments, when we show up, that can be the most powerful meaning making moments of our lives, even if they don't go well."

The hour-long episode is truly worth a listen. 

Vulnerability takes practice. Here's to daring greatly and finding hope in the struggle.

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Lesson No. 002

The pursuit of happiness is not what life is about.