Channeling Mr. Rogers

The call came while I sat with my sketchbook on my lap, playing with ideas for the transformational design of the new South Whidbey Community Center.  I answered.  It was Mr. Rogers saying, “Hello Neighbor.” “Hello Mr. Rogers.” He showed up at the perfect time, reminding me of the importance of PLAY and LOVE.  He said, ”Make it fun, playful, inviting. Warm and connecting. YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. After all, we’ve been neighbors since you were a kid!"  

Yes, I absolutely know how to do that!  So with the intention to create something FAST, as in less than 48-hours fast, Mr. Rogers inspired my pen to hit the paper and I started to play!  

South Whidbey Community Center, formerly Langley High School and Middle School on Whidbey Island, was hosting its first big public event, their open house. Island residents would be experiencing the Center in its new incarnation, a hub of artists, artisans, body workers and social justice advocates, for the first time. Formerly a pedagogical institution, is now a house of nurture and nourish.  A place that formerly grew students and learners is now a place that grows community and opportunities.

Mr Rogers inspired SAY HELLO, an art installation with the distinct intention for people to look up, smile and connect.  Even while installing the hand painted signage on the wall, the signs that read SAY HELLO, people walked in, looked up at us and said HELLO. It was working already.  Just as Mr. Rogers would have designed it.

Thanks, Mr. Rogers.  You taught me well. 

~THE WOLF

Healing Space.

I have been asked, "How do you see what you see?"  I don't.  I feel and listen.  I allow Space to speak.   I ask, "What do you need?"  Healing, always healing.  Heal the Space.  Bring balance.  In turn, Space gives back.  Joy, Connection, Love.  

~The Wolf

BAM.

 ART finds me.  It pokes at me.  Pay attention.  It screams at me.  Listen.  It shines it's high beams at me.  SEE.  Creativity won't let me sleep.  Won't let me take a back seat.  Won't let me walk away.  I hear you.  I see you.  I feel you.  

Okay, you got my attention.

~the Wolf

Say Hello.

Sunday afternoon.  I was walking my two labs, dressed head-to-toe in my Seahawks gear, after the CRAZY playoff victory against the Minnesota Vikings.  We had won by a missed 27-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Vikings a two-point lead in the last seconds of the game.  As I was heading around the chain-linked fence of a neighborhood soccer field still shaking my head in disbelief over the win, a sweet elderly woman walked slowly toward me, one hand on her cane.  I moved to the edge of the sidewalk with the pups as she passed.  I smiled and said, Hello.  

She turned back and asked, “What’s the score?”  

Surprised I answered, “They won.”  

“Hallelujah!”  She exclaimed. 

“It was a Miracle!”  I continued. 

She paused and smiled.  “That’s what we live on.”  

I smiled big as I walked away raising my arms to the sun shouting,  “Yes. YES.”  A gift from the wise.  Miracles.  Magic.  Faith.  Waking up in the morning!  The big and the small.  It’s what we LIVE ON.

Saying Hello always pays me back.  A sweet exchange between two people.  So simple.  Two souls connecting for one brief moment.  It's heartwarming.  I say Hello and suddenly, I feel lighter, happier, recharged.  The smile that widens my face makes me FEEL GOOD.  And maybe the stranger who just walked away might be feeling it, too.  

In an age of technology where all we truly desire is human connection, we are heads down, disconnected, consumed and seeking on our smartphones, laptops, the internet, social media, wherever in cyberspace we can find it.  What we may not See is that what we are seeking may be right in front of us.  

Go ahead, try it.  Say Hello.  

Lift your head from your device.  Or better yet, unplug when you take your next walk. Leave your iPhone at home or in your pocket.  Keep your ears and hands free.  Lift your head.  Make eye contact.  Smile.  Say Hello.  It's so simple.  Your gift is waiting.  Spirit can surprise you.

~The Wolf

The Power of Self Talk.

I opened the door abruptly to my first ever Qigong class at the Taoist Studies Institute on Phinney Ridge.  There they were.  A silent, standing group.  Eyes closed.  Deep in something.  Standing still.  It's 9:02am.  I'm late.  Always late.  Dammit.   I was panting.  Out of breath from running down the street.  As I nervously told my heart to stop pounding so loudly because all the eyes closed people must be looking at me, I debated turning around.  I could leave.  Easy to do.  I made a mistake.  Wrong building.  I'll come back next week.  I'll try yoga instead.  My back hurts anyway.  

Excuse after excuse.  Tried of hearing my old worn out narratives of why I can't get strong.  Why I can't heal my body.  Why my hamstring hurts.  Why not Now.  Why it's better to start tomorrow.  I took a breath and gently coached myself, Get in the circle. Find someone who looks like they know what they're doing. 

And so, I joined.  I found my guy.  He's got it.   I had no idea what I was doing.  My lefts were his rights.  My hands tangled and twisted while his flowed freely, deeply in, eyes closed.  I was more like Dragon with one eye open.  TWO eyes open.  Every time I'd want to giggle or say something negative to myself, I stopped.  Returned to my breath.  This isn't Real Fear!  A tiger comin' at me.  Okay, panic.  But not knowing Qigong?  And maybe looking ridiculous?  Come on, Wolf.  You Got this.  Spirit has your back.

~The Wolf

SWINGERATORS

Here's what we know - 

Office workers sit too much. Startups are intense. Movement increases brain function.  Brain function is to startups as oxygen is to breathing. Sitting stagnates. As a dear friend of mine says, “sitting is the new smoking…just plain bad for you”.

As kids, swings were the draw. On swings we flew. We were daring. Testing the limits of the chain and structure, at peak height we soared into the air landing with a thud in the sand. We were free. Flying. The world was ours.

As teens, swings took on new purpose, as a place to gather. Sway and talk. Connect with our bffs. Gush about our latest crush. Dreaming about what was to come. 

We designed the Swingerators for Ivy Softworks with that lens to the past, knowing that freedom of thought and creativity come with motion. 

The Swingerators are idea generators.  When work is intense, blocks occur, and stress overwhelms, the Swingerators free your mind. Creativity through motion. The pure joy of flying through indoor space, on top of the world, nature seen through the storybook windows. 

The Swingerators are built from salvaged bleacher board from Shoreline High School.  Determined to use every bit of material, many of the furnishings throughout Ivy Softworks have accents of these bleacher boards. The boards tell stories through ABC (already been chewed) gum stuck to their bottoms, visions of football, track, baseball, crowds gathering in community, victory, defeat.  A collective. 

Salvaged bleacher boards in the raw from local Seattle high school.

And boy can you fly! 

Ivy Softworks front entry.  Pioneer Square, Seattle.

Trusting Spirit.

It begins with a scribble. A doodle.  An idea surfaces on a sticky note, sketchbook, and in this case, a cocktail napkin. For the Geekwire Gala, a celebration of the years top ten Seattle Startups,  Koru commissioned us to design a 6x6 ft cocktail napkin reflecting their pioneering vision for the company.

The process is organic. It begins with a hit. A flash. It can appear on the side of the bus, a billboard, the colors on a rusted out dumpster or graffitied on shipping containers and brick walls. When they hit, I pay attention. Nothing is accidental. Everything is on purpose. I see. I listen. I sketch. Spirit drives the vehicle from there. And when I hit roadblocks, I trust that the spinout will take form in a whole new, unexpected spectacular way. 

The inspiration for Koru’s Cocktail Napkin came from Roy Lichtenstein's Masterpiece series, the wailing woman, reflected the unemployed millennial and Brad, the employer.  The characters' expressions of dashed hopes and disappointment are buoyed by sticky notes illustrating Koru's solution of leveling the playing field for young job seekers and bringing great employees to employers. From there the canvas came to life.

Art is about the process. The journey. The finish result is never finished. Visions spin around in crazed sleep, in my dreams, and in my waking hours. I circle back and forth erasing, sketching, evolving. The deadline calls it closed. I take a breath. Hand it over to Spirit. Walk away. 

~The wolf