Weekly Reflection 2/27–3/6

This week, I purchased the spice bottles and now have the measurements I need to design the spice rack. For the most part, I’ve finalized my spice rack design and any further revisions will come from the process of actually building it. I’ve looked into different kinds of wood for building and what tools I can use to make this process go as smooth as possible. I am thinking of starting with cardboard and then working my way to using a hardwood like maple, or exploring my options in softwood with pines. I plan to talk to John about this when we visit the lumber yard to pick up supplies for our final project.

Here are my sketches for the spice rack! I really enjoyed prototyping the various forms of the rack, and thinking through the pros and cons of each design. Ideating is one of my favorite things to do in IMM, so tapping into the creativity of prototyping led me to enter my “flow state,” something I’ve been actively searching for this past year. I got so much out of reading Designing Your Life last semester. I highly recommend this book to anyone in need of guidance, or even the people who think they have it all figured out. So, really anyone who’s willing to dedicate some time to self improvement.

In the book, the author talks about flow as “one of those ‘hard to describe but you know it when you feel it’ qualitative experiences that you’ll have to identify for yourself” (46). It is a moment of clarity where everything you do feels like it just… works. As graduation gets closer and closer, I still find myself struggling with what I really want to do outside of college. I’ve been keeping a mental note of all the times I’ve recognized that I entered the flow, in an effort to pinpoint when I feel most happy. I hope to align these flows with a potential career that will accentuate my skills and keep me passionate about what I love to do.