I had a lovely surprise on Monday morning. I found a new product. Of my own. One I had already made without realising it. There it was, lying hidden in an e mail from a client, who, it turned out, had already bought it, as had several others. She was now, albeit unconsciously, telling me what it was. She called it: “Conversations with a creative thinker”. I would never have thought of that. All I had to do was notice it was there, pick it up, dust it off and put it on the shelf.
I love it when this happens. It involves no struggle or effort. I adore the feeling of ease and grace that I get when elements that were just lying around assemble themselves into a new whole, with an elegant fit. It is ‘fit’ in this sense (as in ‘fitting’ rather than ‘strong’) that makes evolution work, I believe.
By contrast my own efforts to design things seem forced, even clumsy. It makes me laugh to realise that something was right there, often in plain view and I still didn’t see it. And maybe, what it is suggesting, is that I need to do less, push less and pay closer attention.
