My thoughts on practice

There are a variety of ways to practice each piece of advice since all terms can have different contextual meanings. For instance, one can practice boundaries with clients through a set of terms and conditions but also in terms of the amount of time they designate for each part of the project. Often as designers, we work endlessly to make a design better but setting boundaries can be extremely helpful in creating a sustainable practice.

However, as I write the above, I feel that these are extremely personal and subjective to each individual's experiences. We all have a different outlook to life and this is what makes the idea of best practice so interesting. I wonder if there can be a “universal” best practice. In our history, world religions claim to know the best practices for living however, they also rely on context-based solutions to different problems. Perhaps, this is how the practice of “justice court” came to be, where the judge attempts a thorough understanding of both sides before giving a verdict. A jury also helps to negate any biases further.

This brings me to the idea of collective consensus where we need each others' perspectives even though we each have an individual value compass. Being social beings, we learn from each other and that is perhaps the only way to grow. Our ancestors provided us with a headstart and we will provide it to our children by passing on our learnings. All this is possible only through daily practice. Having discipline is perhaps the most crucial factor in having a practice.

Setting a discipline through routine can allow us to track the average success rates of our ideas and further enhance our ideals. With advances in tech, a great many issues have also arisen. Like yin and yang, one idea can help balance one thing but may create imbalance in another way. Thus, re-evaluating our practice is extremely relevant, almost like the need of the hour. What are we doing all this for? What is our aim or vision? What is the way we want to lead? What values should our lives reflect? What practices would we like to pass down?

Even though at an individual level, humans may feel insignificant when it comes to changing the world history does show how individuals have played crucial roles to change the course of the world. We are powerful at an individual level since it is only at this level that we can decide our intentions. We can choose our course for ourselves and stick to that through practice. Practising it daily and incorporating those values where we see fit.