Resonate

July 30, 2019 Carl Barnett

“The elements of design are tools of the trade, the legs upon which a bigger picture sits.”

There is a human connection that is central to interior design. It is not in and of itself. The elements of design are tools of the trade, the legs upon which a bigger picture sits. It is the nuances that resonate deepest, the scents, textures, patinas, and the hand created. All this culminates into mood, enveloping the body, piercing emotion and the mind.

The spaces in which we live are not merely a layering of things, they are vessels of time, emotion and memories. They help us celebrate, allow us to relax, assist in the building of our futures. They too are machines, created to multitask, to hold our keys, our secrets and hopes, ease our way into slumber.

“What I remember most about my parents’ home are the scents, rituals and the collections my mother coveted.”

Creating our living spaces surpass color and pattern, as the bells and whistles have a tendency to fade. What creates the longest and deepest affect can be detected by hand and emotion, elements that affect the body as a whole. What I remember most about my parents’ home are the scents, rituals and the collections my mother coveted. This is how my home is, how I prefer it to feel, simplistic and calm, deep in memory and emotion.

Preserve and Act

July 27, 2019 Carl Barnett

ODA Architects Beth Rivka School — **ODA Architects** **Beth Rivka School**

“To move forward we must preserve what we have, while destroying what no longer serves us.”

How we live in this era and move forward, is a new conversation, one that involves an activist’s spirit and the mindset of a preservationist. To move forward we must preserve what we have, while destroying what no longer serves us.

“There are many ways to approach life today, but all roads lead to the future.”

Living now, should be viewed from a different perspective, not because of a new generation’s trend, but for the preservation of generations to come. Resolve is the dominate thought here, as is inspiration and action. There are many ways to approach life today, but all roads lead to the future.

To live an inspired life, is to see its intricate texture: politics, love, empathy and even hate. In reality, beauty has its ugly side, a rose’s thorns are defiant. But look with a bigger vision, and one finds perspective, meaning and purpose.

“To build a bridge forward, is to understand our linked humanity, our needs and wants.”

As humans we are beautiful, flawed, petty and kind. We are as complex as our built environment, yet simplistic in our shared need for love. This is our commonality, we all want our basic needs met. To build a bridge forward, is to understand our linked humanity, our needs and wants. This perhaps is easier said than done with growing evil at the helms, but the future relies on the push and the pull, realism and hope, the lover and the fighter.

The path forward will not be easy, the reality is what’s being shown us. To live life is to realize its difficulties, its beauties, limits and possibilities. To give not because we have been given, but to act because it is our human need.

Ever Present

July 25, 2019 Carl Barnett

Hope is a word that describes a future forward emotion, an inner feeling we carry, as tucked away wish.

There is so much to be learned from this word, from those who know it best: those who have a story that exemplifies.

I am often inspired by many: the hopeful, the willful , and the doers.

The future owes much to will and doing, to the silent and ever-present, hope.

Beauty is the physical example for hope: standing in when words and emotion fall short.

Now

July 21, 2019 Carl Barnett

It is the moments in life that build the future, that inspire emotion, moving how, to what if: fortifying hope, as calcium to bone.

Moments, be they fleeting, speak to the part of us we call desire, pulling at our need for beauty, safety and nourishment.

Life is made of moments, of people, places and things. These are the components that build our living, that inspire our doing: giving weight to an era of hollow ground.

“There is so much before us, so much to be seen, but no better moment than this, the now.”

As humans we were made from stardust, the universe is within. There is so much before us, so much to be seen, but no better moment than this, the now.

Possible

July 18, 2019 Carl Barnett

My history has informed who I am, and my choices and intentions are what quide my life onward. Empathy, persistence, significance and inspiration, are words I use to describe my direction forward: what propels and pulls.

It is the creative arenas that speak for me best, that allow my truest voice to be heard. I believe in what these arenas can do, both in micro and macro deeds.

We are surrounded by inspiration: inside us, outside us, emotional and physical. Architecture and the hand created have the potential to tie the two, inspiring a deeper experience and meaning by way of beauty and design. This allows for the possible, and proposes the question of what if.

“We have, each of us, the potential to create change, to uplift and inspire, to be the light in this era of challenge.”

What is manifested in reality is first seeded in emotion and thought, change therefore rests within the crevices of our being, where possibility blooms, and hope is held. We have, each of us, the potential to create change, to uplift and inspire, to be the light in this era of challenge.

Inspired living is an antidote to our current ills: ripples to the hurling future.

Jason Silva