Reflections on transformations
“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.” from “Warning” by Jenny Joseph Four years ago, in the honour of being […]
Emerging from the chrysalis
Time distorted its perception during these pandemic years, and it is with a start I realize that two full years of my life have vanished since March of 2021 when I began rediscovering the music of my keyboard. Today marks the 2nd anniversary of a journey of transformation that began the magic of the Kalevala. […]
On common sense or practical wisdom
Even the ancient poems of the Kalevala emphasise the role of common sense, practical knowledge, skills and understanding, instead of metaphysics or religion. (Väisänen, 2012) There is romance in the practical wisdom of the countryside, if one listens for it inbetween the practical advice given to young men and women that comprises long stanzas in […]
You know its been too long when….
… you forget the password to your own blog’s back end. I’m here to sing my song that I had been looking for since March 2021. It has taken me 18 months longer than I ever imagined, and it is the longest year and a half I have ever spent without you. Y U NO […]
Key
Exploring the edge of the abyss
Design is but a form of applied creativity, as is art or music or dance. You’d think I’d know this by now. Funnily enough, its taken literature review on creativity in adversity to bring home to me that the engine of change and transformation is not design but our own capacity and agency for creative […]
Transformative Research and its Discontents: A design practitioner reflects
[ Personal and societal transformation] are intertwined and that personal transformation is a necessary component of research that is designed to support change at the societal level […] if we design our research so that it explicitly addresses issues of discrimination and oppression that the probability of personal and social transformation increases. (Mertens, 2017) This […]
Lost and Found: The Music of my Keyboard
I have been super productive over the past week and I can only point to the creative rush of energy that fieldwork with team members as sounding board can provide. What struck me however was the fact that while I cannot deny the music of my keyboard has returned, I must admit that it is […]
Is it engineering or design?
Looking back at the last year, since I began writing again on the blog looking for the magic of my keyboard, I can see how far I have shifted my perspective – one of the goals for the initiating the introspection. Just over a year ago, I was lamenting intangible losses – vocabulary, for example […]
One year of looking for the magic
As I look back over the past one year since I picked up the threads of looking for the long lost rhythm of my music, best described as the sound of my fingers on this keyboard, I am moved to reflect on all the changes – great and small – that have taken place, in […]
