Embracing My Roots
If the past year could be summed up in one word, what would that word be for you? For most people, it would be ‘ Uncertainty’ or ‘ Isolation’ or even maybe ‘Dalgona’ for all I know, but knowingly or unknowingly I have found my peace by just calling it a ‘Reflective Year.’
We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.
Reflection for me has taken the form of therapy. With every action I take I start to question the mere existence of that thought and decision. For the longest time, I have found my passion in designing for healthcare. As a product designer, I always believed that I need to put my skills to use for the greater good. And subsequently, I immersed myself in projects surrounding laboratory systems, prosthetics, medical devices for surgeries, and hopefully many more. In fact, while applying to UAL for MA in Service Design, my major project proposal focussed on helping amputees deal with the acceptance of their new prosthetic arm or foot.
But as I progressed with my studies, I have started to see the value of design in the smallest of places that are in most cases the beginning of a ripple effect in the system. So I embraced my learning and dove deep into design for society, the environment, and people. And as much as I enjoyed it thoroughly, I believe it is about time that I go back to my roots. My healthcare roots. But I also wonder, is the only reason for my affiliation towards healthcare is that it reminds me of my past designer self or is there more to it. My mentor suggested that I look within myself and question the very existence of that attraction.
Another interesting aspect of the Proposal Development course is that we were asked to reflect ( yet again thankfully) upon ourselves and identity our passion, our barriers, networks, skills and future plans.
After noting down some of my casual yet extremely brutal remarks about myself I came back a few days later to read the assessment of my peers. To my surprise, almost everyone I had worked with in the past 7 months had commented on each one of my post-its and in the most encouraging way possible.
I think my takeaway from this past week would be to ask myself why I undermine myself when I have so many of my peers support me otherwise? Why do I doubt myself and my choices while choosing a topic for my major project? Maybe questioning is a good thing, reflecting on the source of that very string of thought!
Stay tuned for more!
