When you are young, you have this sense that you know it all and that no one can tell you otherwise. I know it was that way for me anyway. I still recall an upset I had with a professor at my fashion school over my designs, and in hindsight, being 20/20 of course, she was perhaps correct. She wasn’t saying my designs were bad at all; she just wanted me to push it a little further. Perhaps she was right. And I recognized that it is important to realize you don’t know everything and that you can learn something. There is a difference between hidden intentions to have one stop creating through so-called “constructive criticism” and actual useful data that can improve your product and make you a better designer. Because, I believe nothing is perfect in this world, and for me that means it can always improve. If you sit back in awe of what you have created and lose sight of that fact, you become complacent and don’t improve. That can be fatal as a creative, in my opinion. We create the future, so we need to always strive to do that. Whether that be a small detail of improvement on a product or something totally new.

This idea that I don’t know everything became abundantly true to me of late. I feel it opens the door for me to become a better designer because if I know it all, how can I learn anything new? Starting a new project with a design firm to create a space, I was taken through their process. With this, I learned a lot and I was open to going on the journey with them. Ultimately this will open the door to a better space and, in turn, an even better product down the line too. I realize I know what I know and that there is some value in that, and I am open to learning more and more. That is the game too. That is what makes it exciting. Working things out. Solving problems. Reverse engineering stuff and coming up with new and better ways. I know I have been stubborn in this regard in the past, and sometimes I still am. But that is ok, as I am a work in progress and am open to learning new things now more than ever. That doesn’t just have to be limited to design either. That can be a whole array of things that can improve my life. The key to it all is does it get results? From diets to workouts to whatever, the true acid test is does it work?, and that is all I look for. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, no matter how adamant I was that this was the way, I am not afraid to admit I was perhaps wrong. At the end of the day, we all believe our opinions to be correct. If we didn’t, they would not be our opinions of course. So, with that I share with you my journey of self-discovery as a creative and more importantly a person. There’s a lot to learn in this world and a lot that can be improved, and that is the beauty of it all in my view. Here’s to the future and an even better one at that!