It’s Time to Reflect
I like to make fun blog posts, it’s one of my favourite activities on this trip. I like to think of how I can break up the events of the day and share them with you all in a fun and light-hearted way. It’s a good way for me to process all the things that are taking place without talking about them too seriously. This is, in part, because I’m not a very extroverted emotional person, I process things mostly internally, or conversationally one-on-one. But we can’t always do things in the way in which we want, so this blog post is my compromise to give a more in-depth look of my mind today, and all the struggles, fears and joys of designing on the program.
A lot of this whole design process has been understanding constraints. We have the time that we have, we can only finish within that time the amount that we can finish. Our control lies in strategizing and prioritizing that time, trying to edit and build whatever we can within it, but beyond that, it is out of our control.
I started off this trip with an essay about time, and that it’s the thing I really have to offer. It was vague, and broad, and maybe didn’t sound at all important. But I still think it’s a precious commodity, and I appreciate the organizations that have given us their time, and I hope that I’ve been able to utilize the time here to contribute back.
Today we met with Ninoshka and Silke and talked about the trajectory of our project for Tara Trust. We’ve been lost for awhile, looking for a direction that made sense. They were both open and honest with us in terms of what they didn’t like and what they thought were really exciting prospects. It was a clarifying moment for us as a group, and in a way, it was nice that we were on our own without Sarah, because it created an opportunity for us to fail, and only in that opportunity were we able to really to see clearly what we needed to accomplish in the next two days. Pressure really does help form the diamond ideas.
So we’re wrapping up everything now. The prototypes, the presentation, the implementation plan, the whole shebang. It’s amazing that we’ve all been together for three weeks, with very minimal physical personal or emotional space, essentially no time that was not programmed or structured, and still are enjoying one another’s company and still actively communicating and valuing each other’s opinions. It would be very easy for us to get frustrated and check out, and not a single person has.
I’m continuously impressed by my peers, and feel grateful for their support and encouragement when I am frustrated, confused, or just being stubborn about my own hopes or ideas. Liza said at dinner today that she was really going to miss India…and then tacked on that she was really going to miss being all together every day. It melted my heart, thinking how fast the time went, and how much we’ve all gotten to know each other better.
I’ve loved my time in India, I’ve loved learning about India, and I’ve loved being pushed to work on a project with fellow quirky, fun-loving, patient, talented, sassy, opinionated, witty, silly, punny, designers and friends. I’ve loved seeing sass, talent, opinions, and wit come through language barriers with the women we’ve been working with as well. I’ve loved seeing all the different boutique hotels and shops and seeing how people are supporting small local business and women’s groups who are doing great work. Over the last three weeks we’ve built our own little community, and have started bridging our community with the communities we’re working with. It’s a network of ideas, and support, and development, and that feels really nice.
Signing out of blog posts,
Megan
King
Monsoon Season
Messy Minds, Messy Spaces