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multipotentialite…it’s a thing and I am one

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full grown

Let’s say you’re at a cocktail party and the guy in last year’s suit marches over, sticks his hand out and says “Hi, I’m David. I’m an attorney. What do you do?” If you’re like me you stand there looking baffled. David the Attorney probably is not terribly impressed and he walks away looking for someone with a single noun descriptor that he can relate to.

Meanwhile, if you’re like me, you are still trying to figure out what exactly you do. I don’t have a noun. I don’t even have a paragraph. Forget the elevator speech, I have a full on rival to 24 hours of happy. With less dancing (except when I’m making dinner). And according to Emilie Wapnick this is just fine.

She calls me a multipotentialite. And I’m thinking that most people who live and breathe the creative are very much the same. At various times of a day, week, life…I am a mother, an interior designer, a garden designer, a therapist, a permit puller, a graphic artist, a jewelry designer, a writer, a cook. And I’m sure I’m not done yet. So when I find someone extraordinary who mixes and morphs and doesn’t live by a single noun, I feel validated.

You and me, who can’t pick a single noun/profession/dream, we are more interesting for the lack of a narrow definition and dare I say more valuable.

Gavin Munro may not know the word multipotentialite, but I think he probably is one. He grows chairs. He started a company called Full Grown. But his chairs aren’t art, or trees, or furniture they are art and trees and furniture. So he is a horticulturalist, an artist, a manufacturer, a furniture designer, a carpenter, a world saving environmentalist. And a really patient man.

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photos courtesy fullgrown.co.uk

It’s people like Gavin who are helping to move our world forward. People who don’t focus so intently on one thing that they lose sight of the bigger picture and what’s happening around them. IDEO knows this….they gather people from several disciplines to solve a single problem. And many creative firms are now following suit. For you and me and Gavin who can’t settle on a single noun to identify ourselves, we should fit right in, don’t you think?

Keep dreaming, keep doing and keep in touch,
Leslie

to thank a vet: feed a vet, hear a vet, pay a vet, house a vet

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Let me just take you on a tour of how my mind works. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. So I decided to reprise a couple of earlier posts, find some new info and offer a chance to thank (and help) our veterans. First stop was Cup of Joe for a Joe. This is an organization that provides a cup of coffee, purchased by you and me, to veterans. But I hear that they don’t offer a discount to veterans in all of their shops so for an hour I got sidetracked into researching whether to recommend this group (I do). In the meantime I’m looking at pictures of veterans and remembering that The Civil Wars were talking about repairing their rift. So I searched out their website (I swear Google is the source of ADHD) and found out that no, they haven’t repaired their rift and the break up is for real. But they have offered us a song by way of gratitude (and maybe apology). So enjoy the song…it’s an awesome rendition of ‘You Are My Sunshine’. And now I’m getting back to where I started. Thanking our veterans by helping out.

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This is my favorite….if you’re in line for coffee or at a restaurant having a meal and you see a vet in fatigues, pay their bill. Even if it means you have to order less. Cup of Joe for a Joe is another option…I’ve donated and gotten a couple of sweet notes back. And I’ll do it again.

Hear

Yesterday in New York City, Veteran Artist Program (VAP) presented their latest show ‘Telling’ featuring the stories of 7 returned veterans in their own words and by their own voices. In addition VAP offers opportunity for veterans to express themselves through the visual arts, performing arts, writing/literature, film/video, and new/interactive media. Go see a VAP show, donate to the organization, partner with them by becoming an ambassador.

Pay

The employees at EcoVet are veterans trained to build furniture. They create rugged and beautiful furnishings from the salvaged material pulled from decommissioned tractor trailers. LEED points people.

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House

Build a house for an injured veteran. Homes For Our Troops builds accessible homes for returning injured veterans. You can help by donating money, offering supplies, giving your sweat equity, buying their merchandise. Check their website and find a veteran neighbor that could use your help.

To our vets, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for the service that you do and the sacrifice that you make.

Keep in touch,
Leslie

memorial day continued: vet made

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Veterans creating product for the rest of us. Pretty awesome and totally worth our support.

all photos courtesy ecovetfurniture.com and the ecovet facebook page

EcoVet employs heroes to create furniture from decommissioned Walmart trailers. Each trailer is disassembled and every part is re-used either in the furniture factory or elsewhere. Talk about your LEED points…there should be an extra point for using American made products built by ex-military labor. This is not charity, this is skilled labor providing useful products…you dream it, they build it.

 

all photos courtesy swordandplough.com

Sword & Plough: turning military surplus material into civilian products, sisters Emily (an active duty military intelligence officer) and Betsy use veteran labor to sew their products, thus supporting ex-military personnel and a cleaner planet.

 

all photos courtesy oscarmike.org

Oscar Mike: ‘We are a group of Veterans, athletes, artists and individuals from all walks of life who want to embody the spirit of hard work on which America was founded. We’re striving to bring back a tough, can-do spirit to our great country and we want to look bad-ass while doing it.’ Oscar Mike (‘on the move‘ in military jargon) creates clothing made in America and through their foundation funds athletic events for disabled veterans to help them heal.

That’s my last Memorial Day post for this year…..thanks for listening, now go spec some great furniture for that restaurant you’re working on,
Leslie

 

furniture in Milan

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Last week marked the annual Salone Internazionale del Mobile, billed the world’s largest furniture fair, in Milan.  I was right here in sunny California, but took a little tour via Pinterest just to see what I was missing. Check it out to see what’s new, or in many cases what’s old but with a twist or a new color or a different material. It’s all here with links to sources.

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If you were there, send pictures. I see some pretty amazing future palettes off these photos….maybe tomorrow!
Leslie