#24 Anything But Ordinary 💎
Turning the "common" into something "uncommon."
Whatever you need to make extraordinary things, you can find in your day-to-day life.
It all comes down to paying attention and finding new perspectives within the ordinary.
For example, Nike founder Bill Bowerman.
While watching his wife prepare breakfast one morning, he realized their waffle iron could be an excellent mould for a running shoe.
The waffle iron Bill Bowerman used to prototype a rubber sole for running shoes that later became the Nike Waffle Trainer.
Another example is Sister Corita Kent. This Catholic religious sister became a pioneering artist, an educator, and an advocate for social justice.
After visiting an exposition of Andy Warhol's work in the 60s, she realized the power of everyday objects to send compelling messages.
So, she started creating pop-art herself.
Source: Corita Art Center
She took pictures of advertisements, corporate logos, packagings, quotes from popular songs and scripture and transformed them into eye-popping screen prints.
Things that we see every day in our consumer culture, and we think of as "noise" or "junk", she turned into powerful messages of joy, hope and love.
With her bold work, she sought to confront issues of poverty, racism, and war.
Here are some examples of her work.
Sister Corita transformed the "common" into something unique by paying extra attention and looking at her surroundings through different perspectives.
As a teacher, she inspired her students to discover new ways of experiencing the world by using a "finder"- a piece of cardboard with a rectangular hole cut into it.
[The finder] is a device, which does the same things as the camera lens or viewfinder. It helps us take things out of context, allows us to see for the sake of seeing, and enhances our quick-looking and decision-making skills.
-Learning By Heart, by Corita Kent and Jan Steward
By cropping their environment, they could stop being distracted by the context and begin to see the world one piece at a time with fresh eyes.
The Takeaway:
Find new perspectives.
We are really good at assuming. We think we have the right answers by just glancing or skimming over. Invest more time looking at things from different points of view.
S l o w d o w n. Inspiration is everywhere.
It's tempting to believe that it takes exceptional circumstances to make exceptional work. But it's not the case.
We have everything we need, yet the desire to be living different circumstances distract us from all the untaped resources that surround us.
What's your "finder"?
What tool, process or exercise can you adopt to see your surroundings with fresh eyes and rediscover new potential?
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María Albert (@maria_albert13)
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