As an architecture student, the week before final pinup is always crazy. Anything unrelated to the project I am working on falls out the back of my brain... homework assignments, meetings, lunch dates with friends. I forget where I put my car keys, I leave notebooks I need at my apartment, I unintentionally relate everything I say to architecture if I'm not careful. The worst part of final pinup weeks in the past, however, has been my whiney, complaining attitude and negativity. This week in the semester is always stressful; I always have more work to do than I have time for. Usually the stress leads to a tired, cranky, Karen.
Last Wednesday on my way to campus I texted one of my close friends who sits next to me in studio. "There will be no negativity out of my mouth today. No whining, no complaining, no less than nice words about anything. Please hold me accountable!"
From there, I chose positivity. Whenever I was about to complain about how the computer program wasn't doing what I wanted it to do, or the drawing I was working on got smudged, I would check myself and keep my mouth shut. When something I was doing went well, I would vocalize it to myself. I got more done on Wednesday alone than I usually get done in a week. Obviously the positivity was helping.
This morning is the start of day 6 of positivity... so far so good. I spent about 16 hours in studio this weekend and got SO much done it is ridiculous. The link between my outlook on the project and my productivity can't be ignored. I have realized this week that I am here in college, "living my dream", becoming trained in the profession I have wanted to be in my entire life, under some of the best professors in the country. I am working on designing buildings, creating spaces out of void, and to be anything less than grateful for the opportunity is ungrateful entitlement. I am choosing humble gratitude over entitlement this week.
Based on how much I have gotten done, I think "humble gratitude" is going to be my new way of looking at every studio project.
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