Once we learned about the idea of having a child’s eye, I began observing my surroundings. Over this past semester, I’ve realized that school had been hindering my child’s eye as I had such tunnel vision, focusing on work and getting done what needs to be done. During quarantine, this is where my child’s eye perspective really came into play. I have always been told I’m childish or that I think like a child and I saw this as a bad thing until I came into this class. During quarantine, I looked toward my 9 year old sister. She loved quarantine, it was so simple for her: she didn’t have to go to class and all of her siblings were home to play with her all the time. She asks me to play with her every day and she would come up with the weirdest games and the strangest things would pop into her mind. There were certain objects that she would pick up, assume what it was, and be wrong. This helped me to realize the power in not knowing and in having a child’s eye. I tested this out when me and my little sister wanted to make a projector to watch movies outside. We had everything we needed but nothing to hold up a phone. I grabbed a random toy on her floor and it worked perfectly. Without thinking about what it was, I looked at it for its use. It was a toy jump for her horse stable set. I think that having a child’s eye was once what came most naturally to me, but I have lost it slowly over time in the past couple years. I think that I need to work on embracing ambiguity. I am generally a patient person, but I like to know answers. I struggle with anxiety and the main thing that I have to try to accept with it is uncertainty. I think that I can practice embracing ambiguity more by telling myself that it doesn’t matter what happens because everything does work out the way it is supposed to. I think that overall, I learned a lot about myself in this course and how my flaws can actually become strengths and how ambiguity is actually okay. A child’s eye, embracing ambiguity, failing forward, and creative confidence are all things that I continue to work on in the future.
Test & Iterate 2
After 2 weeks of using my prototype, I discovered a new way to make it better. Although I realized that it was much harder than I thought to make enough money using these apps, I still found ways to make this better. I decided to use a resistance band and put it around my hips, holding my phone in place. This way, when I was working out I could have my phone on me without holding it. This increased my step count for the day. I also thought of some new ideas like creating a drop-shipping website to make some extra money on the side. Over time I also became less and less focused on this idea, so I am still looking for ways to remain motivated. One way I did this was by setting a goal for each day. It was not very effective, but it definitely helped as well.
Test & Iterate
I have been logging the amount of money I’ve earned each day and from where. I have found that the most I have made in a day was 45 dollars so far. I realized that I needed to either lower my goal, or find something more profitable to do. I decided that I am going to create a website to sell my clothes that I don’t wear anymore or that I have never worn, sell clothes that I have recycled and made better, sell my electronics, and start a blog. Each of these ideas can increase my profit and productivity this month. Through one inspiration, I have found another, even better one. This list has already begun to change my experience as I feel more organized and more determined to make money and come up with creative ideas to do so. With this goal, I am more inclined to become creative in order to accomplish it. As I explained before, there are many doors that this log has opened up for me.
Things that I can improve about this are to make it online, although I do like to write things down to better remember them and to feel in more control. However, if I make this electronic, I could set reminders for myself to log things down. I could also go way further and design an app where others can log where their money is coming from, can view statistics to see how much they can earn if they make this every day, etc. That might just be another idea that I begin to work on to make some money as well.
The overall experience surprised me as I have never had this many ideas come to me so soon. I started thinking about things that I’ve never thought of before, and it made it easier to build off of ideas. I think that the process of taking steps has made it a lot easier to come up with good ideas and take them even further. Even the other ideas I have come up with have allowed me to be more productive and have motivated me to do things to keep me mentally sane during quarantine. Overall, I was surprised yet impressed with myself for all of the thinking and brainstorming that came out of this. It has made a drastic change in my quarantine experience.
Prototype
When thinking of what I would create for my prototype, at first I wanted to create something extravagant and good-looking, but I think that my main focus ended up being the usefulness and the placement of my prototype. I have been trying to see how much money I can earn in a month by trying to make 50 bucks each day (legally of course). This money log will help my try to pinpoint how much money I am making in a day. At the bottom is also a space for cool ideas. Instead of throwing these papers away, I will be taping them on top of each other so I can go back and look at cool ideas I’ve come up with as well as how much I made in the past compared to now. At first, I thought this design was very simple and may not make that big of a difference, but I realized after I began filling it out that same day that it makes me feel like I have a more stable income rather than seeing on each different application or survey I was using that I had earned about 2 dollars. It added up to 53 dollars on my first day and I am still going. Hopefully, this number will continue to increase and I will come up with some cooler ideas for things like blogs, stores, YouTube channels, etc.
3 Concepts
Brainstorm
- Go on a run/walk every day
- Reorganize all of my drawers
- Reorganize my basement
- Donate old clothes I don’t need anymore
- Go to sleep earlier
- Wake up earlier
- Get out of bed 5 minutes after waking up (the latest)
- Make MY OWN healthy meals
- Schedule a time to facetime my friends
- Finish unpacking my car
- Facetime my grandparents and other family members I don’t see that often
- Try meditation (again)
- Do yoga every night before going to bed
- Try to watch tik toks and go on social media less
- Allow yourself one movie only per day
- Family game night/ movie night at night time
- Start planning my classes
- Look for jobs
- Go for drives a few times a week
- Create something useful
- Do something fun outdoors with family
- Sit outside by the fire and relax
- Get homework done by noon
- Don’t online shop because you’re bored
- Don’t bored eat
- Have a spa day → SELF CARE
- Think of the positives of the situation
- Start watching the news more to stay informed
- Play with my little sister
- Help my brother with his homework
- Help my mom out with cleaning
- Clean your room
- Do puzzles
- Tan on warm days
- 6 week 6 pack
- Journal my thoughts
- Tie dye old clothes
- Make new clothes out of old clothes
- Go out and take pictures
- Try doing yoga outside
- Try to create a random recipe (be creative in the kitchen)
- Letting my little sister teach me tik toks
- Help my little sister with her “play” she’s putting on over zoom with her friends
- Get in tune with your emotions
- Catch up/ Get ahead on homework
- No makeup to let skin breathe
- Make homemade makeup
- Draw something
- Order an adult paint by number book
- Help my little sister with her science projects
I was surprised that I did not find it that difficult to write this list of things. I think something that helped me during this activity was that I have a little sister. She is 9 years old and I think that her creativity and energy is what is keeping us all moving every day. This reminded me of child’s eye In a way because she doesn’t see this pandemic as a problem, but as an opportunity. Yes, she is blind to the sad effects of it right now, but she is being optimistic and making fashion shows to keep herself busy and is never sitting doing nothing for one second.
Another thing that I noticed during this activity is that the things that I found most important had to do with self care (they are bolded). I think that self care is good for the body and soul and is what should be focused on the most during this time.
COVID-19 Constraint Map
In making my constraint map, I realized how little I have experienced and how this virus is affecting the world in many ways more than I am experiencing. It isn’t hard for me to get frustrated with what is happening and forget to think about how much harder this is for others who are less fortunate. Many have lost or are going to lose their jobs, are in difficult family situations and cannot escape their homes, or are struggling mentally as a result of this virus. Since quarantining, I have been frustrated, anxious, and just really mad about what was happening. I would think: This doesn’t affect me why can’t I just leave my house and go see my friends, when I got too fed up.
This assignment allowed me to think of others rather than just myself. I started off pretty basic thinking about the effects on health and the economy, but then I began to think about more specific situations as I went down the page. I started picturing myself in different situations that I was thinking about and then being stuck at home didn’t seem that bad after all. I have a happy family, can afford to take care of ourselves and to plan fun things at home. I also thought about local businesses more deeply. I had known that they had been closed down, but I never thought about the families that owned them. My town is filled with mostly family owned businesses and during this time, they would be without jobs, without income, maybe even without enough money to afford food. When I began drawing arrows to connect these categories, I felt like everything kind of trickled down in a way to the word “Stress”. This is what I was feeling right now, and what almost everyone is feeling right now.
The only positive word on here I had found was creativity and opportunity. Focusing on these, I began to think about the amount of people I have seen get creative during this time of stress. People have met up in parking lots sitting in their trunks or on top of their cars to see their friends (while staying 6 feet apart) and I have seen so many creative tik toks online about how to stay busy during quarantine.
I think that although most of these constraints lead to stress and negative emotion, that it is important to focus on opportunity and creativity during this time. This will make this quarantine period more productive and less boring and stressful.
Concept Board
For this activity, I reflected on all of the things that my family and I have done to keep ourselves busy and mentally sane during quarantine. Reflecting on it now, I am surprised how much these little things have kept us all healthy and occupied. I have not been bored this quarantine so far, I’ve actually been pretty busy.
The left half of my concept board represents the activities that are more individual and allow me to self reflect. In the top left corner, the runner represents physical activity. This has had a huge impact on my mental health as working out allows me to feel healthy and relaxed mentally. To the right of this picture is an open road. I have not done this yet, but it is something that I want to do for my mental health, but it represents going on drives and listening to music. This will allow me to get out of my noisy household and have time to relax and get some fresh air. underneath this photo is someone doing yoga. I have been attempting to get myself to do yoga before bed every night to make myself less anxious. To the left of this photo are cleaning supplies. I love to clean and it makes me more productive and relaxed when my room is immaculate. I hope to continue to keep my area clean during quarantine. below these two photos are doing homework and sewing. Homework keeps me busy and distracts me from the things going on in the world right now. Sewing is something that I love to do, but haven’t had the time. I love to take old clothes that I don’t wear anymore and change them into something cool that I would start wearing again.
The right side of this board represents the more social things I am doing to keep up with interactions. The second photo from the right on the top row is a game that my mom ordered called Stratego. My mom has been ordering us all several board games off of amazon to keep out family busy. We have also watched jeopardy together (to the right this) and tried to guess the answers before the contestants did. In the bottom right corner, there are some tie dye t-shirts. My family has been tie dyeing for the past few days and it has really made a difference. It is such a small thing, but when we leave the dye to set overnight we get really excited and it gives us something to look forward to the next day. To the left of this picture are brownies. We have not been making brownies every day, but we have been cooking other things. My sister and I have cooked for our family every night since being home and have started to get more creative with it. We tried some asian fusion tacos one night which were a huge success. I also tried little dessert experiments with Oreos with my younger sister. My younger sister has kept us all very busy with activities like fashion shows (photo above the tie dye) and tik tok dance lessons. We also have watched Netflix shows together and have opened our pool early and planned our own polar plunge in it on a cold day. Finally, in order to interact with my friends, I have mostly been talking to them through FaceTime and we have set up times to do this as a group.
As a whole, looking at this concept board it represents introversion and extroversion at the same time and how there should be a balance between the two. I think that in doing these activities during quarantine that I can hold this balance and become in touch with myself as well as with others despite being in quarantine.
Tea Light
Inspiration Week 4
This week, I decided to go for a run without headphones in. I thought that it might be inspiring, however, I was so focused on the sound of my breathing that I could not think about much else. After a little, I stopped and started walking and this is when I began to notice things. Although I was really inclined to take out my phone, I didn’t let myself and I began noticing things like the way the houses looked and how interesting the architecture is here. I saw very interesting colors and it kind of reminded me of New Orleans style design. I noticed that there are a lot more trees than I have noticed around here and how close together the stop signs actually were. I started thinking about the house the I wanted to live in and since I started watching a British competition show of interior designers, began thinking of cool ways that this style could be translated into a room like on the show. Although I don’t know how to make furniture or how I could actually apply this, it was cool to see how much I was learning from watching this show. Turns out that the combination of watching this show and walking without headphones (instead of running) was how I found my inspiration.
Inspiration Week 3
This week I decided to try to meditate. I’m not sure if it works how it was supposed to, but when I failed to do it right I just ended up alone with my thoughts. Normally, there is so much going on around me that I don’t have the time to be alone with my thoughts. I felt relaxed and began thinking more deeply about the things that are going on in my life. When it was over, I felt like I was waking up from a deep sleep. I may not have had any life changing revelations in this experience, but it was really nice to have a time to think and I think that it motivated me as It gave me the time to think about my life, what I wanted, and what goals I wanted to set for myself. I realized that I wanted to start paying more attention to my health because I find this harder to do at school and it made me decide to clean up my room so I felt more put together. Overall, even though I might not have done meditation correctly, I think that this experience was helpful for my overall mental health and happiness in the stressful environment we have on campus.
Starburst Earrings
Inspiration – Week 2
This past weekend, I was home for a surprise party. On Sunday, we were out of things to do and decided to try something we’ve never done before. We went to the escape room in my town. I wasn’t expecting to learn much from this experience as I assumed that it was a situation where you would mostly be applying knowledge. However, I learned a lot in attempting to find a way out of the room. My family is not so good at teamwork and we are all pretty stubborn. There was a lot of fighting and not much teamwork, but once there were only 15 minutes left, we started actually working together and thinking on the same level rather than spreading out and finding things on our own. I also noticed that my brother had accidentally opened a lock and I remembered how error is so important to innovation. This accident ended up opening a pretty important door which ultimately led to us getting out of the room with 5 minutes to spare. Another thing that I gained from this experience was an idea for a paper in one of my classes. I was pretty stuck on what to focus on and one of the paintings in the room that we had to find a clue in actually was a historical one and I realized that this might be a good thing to use to prove an argument. Overall, this experience inspired me in that it led me to think about how teamwork and error are more important than I had previously thought and it led me to ideas for a paper that is due soon.
M+I+D Draft Mind Map
Inspiration – Week 1
As a kid I was known for having the craziest dreams of everyone in my family. I would write them down and draw pictures into a movie script. The idea of dreams is really interesting to me and for some time in my life I used to analyze my own dreams as well as others as I believe they can tell us more than we realize. However at school, I don’t normally have the time to write my dreams down anymore or even the time to think about them. This past week I wrote down all of my dreams that I remembered and thought more deeply about what my subconscious was trying to tell me in order to try to gain inspiration. I found that my dreams were telling me my fears in life: to have a job where I’m unhappy and where my life is boring and unadventurous. This dream reminded me to stay creative and to keep doing what I want rather than what might be the easier route. Although this might not seem like direct inspiration, it is a reminder as to what I’ve already been inspired to do. It is easy to forget things sometimes when we’re busy at school, but dreams can be helpful in giving us a wake up call and possibly some inspiration.
AWAY Luggage – Design
Mind Map – Design
Innovation – Refrigerator
Mind Map – Innovation
Team 3 Presentation
Marketing Mind Map
Judgement Free Zone
Often in a classroom setting, students are judged or rather believe that they will be judged for being too “extra”. Therefore, they will tone their ideas down a little to avoid this judgement. This can decrease creativity and expression in classwork. Additionally, this leads students to work toward a uniformity so that their work does not stand out. I have done this in the past, including during our first assignment. I thought about what others might do for their mind maps rather than going with my gut. This semester, I plan to do what I want and think less of how my work will compare to others or what they might think of it. I also plan to support others for being unique so that they do not feel judged for being different. By doing so, I will break a classroom boundary and work to the best of my abilities in this course.