my design process an idea + skills + material + passion + lots of work: stuff you'll think is cool

Inspiration : a list

If you've never visited www.ted.com go, its an awesome place to hear some excellent lectures. One of my favorites is from Stefan Sagmeister, he is a designer.  In one of his lectures he shares a list of things he has learned in his life, here is the list:

"helping other people helps me
having guts always works out for me
thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. i have to live now
starting a charity is surprisingly easy
being not truthful works against me
everything i do always comes back to me
assuming is stifling
drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on
over time i get used to everything and start taking for granted
money does not make me happy
traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life
keeping a diary supports personal development
trying to look good limits my life
material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses
worrying solves nothing
complaining is silly. either act or forget
actually doing the things I set out to do increases my overall level of satisfaction
everybody thinks they are right
low expectations are a good strategy
whatever I want to explore professionally, its best to try it out for myself first
everybody who is honest is interesting"

I like his reasons for making the list, and on a subsequent lecture he talks about how the list has taken a life of its own.  All of us create things that take a life of their own (all of us), no matter who.  Some of those things become inspiration to others...

dl.v

PS.  I spent 5 hours cutting chip to make bases for the conference table model.  My hands hurt.  But they (bases) look good...