The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

THE INNER STUDIO
moved by a favorite object. You may need to dance to a favorite
song or walk through a vibrant part of your city. Once you have
made contact with what moves you, try closing your eyes and see
if you can make contact with the feeling of the creative impulse in
your body. Open your eyes and revisit the source of your inspiration.
I often suggest to designers who are in a funk about their
talent that they go to a store that sells things they love. It may be
cars or shoes, furniture or electronics–the point is not to make a
purchase but to make direct contact with your desires.
What I have noticed most often is that designers don’t anchor
themselves deeply enough in the enjoyable feeling of what inspires
them. There is lots of analysis of these places and artifacts, but the
feelings about them are not valued and reveled in. You need to lock
in the memory of feeling creative. Try to have every cell participate
in this experience. What moves you is always enough. You don’t
have to look for more than your heart’s desire fulfilled. Right now,
in this moment, what is inspiring you? Look back over your day.
Can you remember anything you did, saw, said, and heard that felt
creative? Close your eyes and imagine your body filled with this
experience. Write it down, draw it, paint it, reflect on it, tell friends
about it. The things that you long to express, you must express.
The journey of self-expression must be undertaken for two different
but related reasons: the world needs it and you need it. Allow
the feeling of being moved to be the force that creates the drawing.
We are not here to make trouble. We are here to live creatively.
Any of us who have been through career-based school systems,
or perhaps grown up in families where creativity, fantasy, and
daydreams were not honored and supported, may have been
conditioned to bring doubt, fear, and worry to our creative
processes. When we try to access the imagination, we may find a
very negative shadow waiting for us. If this is your experience,
remember to accept the vulnerability you feel and attempt to draw
this more delicately into your work.
EXERCISE: DESIGNING FROM WITHIN
In the purest sense, “designing from within” means designing from an
embodied connection with your own soul. While these words mean
162