I thought I had my finger on the pulse of changing trends. I assumed that my efforts to stay current were paying off. I na?ve concluded that my assessment was young and old, mature and adventurous, a bit on the edge but not dangerous. I was and often am so “out of it”! I have no idea how designers see the future. I can’t even glimpse what might be driving their views. Everything that they do is a surprise! Some of it is good but much is just bizarre. Shifting trends and I am getting old! When did I lose touch? Did it happen all in a day? Am I completely lost?
Things are not as bleak as my words might sound. Good design is still good design. Adventure is often just something that has not been done in awhile. Being on the edge is sometimes a description for what others have not been able to gain comfort. Yet changing patterns, shifting values are something that we often miss. It is as if you and I are in our own worlds, virtually unconnected with each other, and both of us assume that each other knows, understands, and is living in the other world. Take the two worlds between us and multiply it by the number of people in the world and it becomes a pretty messed up place!
Everyone has different values and ways of viewing life. What happens when something beyond everything that we know happens? It is easy to imagine “mass confusion, mob uproar—in Decision Valley! God's Judgment Day has arrived in Decision Valley.” (Joel 3.14) And yet in spite of this everyone thinks they have their hands on the pulse of the “real” world! Just like fashion-we don’t have a clue yet we sit smug in our warm chairs on a cold winter day and believe everything is going to be ok. We just hum the words to the song “we’ll work it out” and carry on as if nothing could possibly change.
Beware – our “self centric” world is not God’s world.