The most interesting YouTube video I came across the past month was an interview with Ross LoveGrove , one of the world’s most acclaimed industrial and product designers.
Love how he outlines the hands of friends and then has them sign it with a personal note. (6:13 minute mark) Reminds me of a craft I did when I was a kid. He found a way to elevate it - and yet keep its charm. I might adopt this delightful nugget and slip a sketch book in my bag just for this - to frame a friend's hand with love. It will be my coffee-friend guest book. A bit out there, but oh, how much fun it can be! What a way to connect on a memorable level.
So, the next time we meet for coffee or tea, expect me to ask, "Will you be my hand model?"
"Hearts in Hand" A five-second doodle from yours truly.
What I also found fascinating was his 'criss-cross' journaling/coding method. LoveGrove mentions how he was inspired to try it after visiting the Chicago Art Institute where they had a show on Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, geologist and biologist who lived in the nineteenth century.
Darwin was on a boat to the Galapagos and was running out of paper and so he turned his pages around and began writing over them. Genius! In LoveGrove's words (2:05 minute mark), "...This is just an illustration, I feel like, of squeezing creativity out of everything..."
Seemed like fun to try. So I did. I thought I'd stick to the theme of connection, since I chose to embrace 2023 as the year of WE.
Spoiler alert: If you want to try to decipher it first - DON'T scroll down!
Below is what spilled onto paper - literally. Before I write a poem out or contemplation it is usually just a word in my head that forms on paper, so I find what came out to be interesting. See what comes up for you :)
(First, going vertical)
It's a new day, a new year
Time for care, in a way
that is fresh, in a way
that is clear. Connection
what does it even mean
at its core? Eons of yore
People would travel
by horse and carriage to
pay, honor with a visit
Nowadays an email
a text to warm up
a level or a few, leave
the voice-note. A step
above, FaceTime. Does
Zoom count? Wow how
(continued, now on the horizontal)
times have changed. What happened to the
hand stamped letter? The one you lick
the stamp & letter to bind your heart
to another? Now it would be considered
an inconsideration. Slap on a sticker
that shows an extra mile has been traveled.
Especially if the letter made it into the box.
For now, at least, let this contemplation show how much
I care. Because I do.
To you from me,
With best wishes
for a happy 2023
I really do miss the good old fashioned letter and absolutely value that which it represents - connection. I will make a point of getting one out to someone today. Who can you surprise and delight with snail mail this week?
Sending love!!
