Idealism

Based off of my personality type (INFJ), I am very drawn to the philosophical concept of idealism - basically the idea reality can be constructed by the mind to see whatever it wants to. It seems to others from the outside to be something that only wizards can do or is something that is too mystical or hippie-ish to even consider to be rational thought. The thing with idealism is that it is more of a mentality - an important one- something to be channeled - especially for creatives. The ability to imagine a world in any way, shape, or form that one desires seems strange, but at the same time, super freakin cool.

Idealism is also seeing things the way that you want to, using the power of your own imagination to solve problems or to create a world all for yourself. It amazes me how powerful the brain can be when it chooses to. It's almost like the brain has a mind of it's own - its autonomic processes and functions that make human life biologically possible.

Designers swim in seas of idealism and don't even realize it. When we approach a project, we are trying to see what world our designs can live and breathe in. That is just pure idealism. It's seeing in your mind what could be. Not necessarily what ought to be, but what could be. How do we harness this ability? Practice. Practice. And even more practice. For some who are more practically minded, idealism simply isn't in their brain's vocabulary. For an INFJ like me, idealism is intertwined in my very being. I happen to thrive off of it. I see movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, and I see worlds where everything gains meaning and purpose. However, this is not idle dreaming or a fleeting thought. Because then these ideas and memes become meaningless. They end up being thrown into the deep caves of our subconscious maybe never to be thought up again. We've gotta put these worlds we imagine into action!

I think of the above illustration of a king of spades. I happened to draw this up upon thinking of a world where I could live on top of a misty mountain pondering all of the philosophical questions to be put into the universe by the human mind. A place where it was quiet, serene, and beautiful. I find the symbolism of the robe quite significant. Most see it just as a garment to be worn by those of the ancient days. But to me it seems to represent more. With the robe, I see identity. Possibly even a rejection of the self. Putting on something that is neutral so that judgement is less apparent. Everyone has presumptions about everything they've ever experienced, so having a robe on this character seems to be a way of giving him a mysterious quality so that biases are neither for or against him. This man in the illustration is also a deep thinker. He does not seem solemn, but more that he is pondering, or even waiting for something. He is confident. The crown on his head is sideways. He is not done thinking. It seems as though he has come to the understanding that he must see the world with a different perspective, maybe even a little crooked. He also realizes that the human mind is flawed, and we don't always have the full picture of what we are trying to see. This is where idealism comes in to play again.

If we can't see the whole picture, then create your own picture. Create something beautiful in your mind. See things that others might not. Be observant. Be perceptive. Do everything with purpose. It is hard to me to see the world, and the things in it, as not having purpose. Perception is something that people often not pay much attention to. They see something one way, someone else sees the same thing in a completely different light. We must see things as we see them, and realize that there are always other options to consider before going off of our own ambitious thoughts. Altruism. This is the idea of acting in a way that is selfless by moral obligation. Deep down, there has to be a sense of morality. A sense of trueness. I believe truth to be absolute. The things that are true have always been true, discovery is simply the process of uncovering those truths in their entirety. The whole picture of idealism seems on the surface to be contradictory to truth. Oh, but it is quite the contrary.

Idealism is a route to uncovering truth through processes in the mind. Maybe that is what the man in the illustration has realized, or is in the process of discovering. We all seek truth, this is fundamental to the human psyche in attempt to understand the universe. But what is all of this without love?! Truth and love are intertwined. I don't care how you put it. Our job as designers is to practice empathy in our duty for putting quality design into the world. Design is absolutely idealistic in its innateness. From this, we can decide to throw truths into our work. Putting lies out there for the world to see is not what good work is about. Good work is taking your ideas, applying truth and love to them, and hoping for the best. Life is a continuing process; do not be down trodden by the things of this world, lest your mind be wasted away into the world itself. So seek truth. Even for someone who has idealism strung into their very being, truth must be the root of what the idealist wraps around. Cling to truth and love, and live in simplicity and intentionality.