January 2008 | From the Editor
Potted People
By Ritzy Ryciak
I have always had this theory that people are like potted plants. We sort of leaf out and bloom in response to the pot (or home space) that we are in. This doesn’t necessarily translate to the idea that everybody needs an extra big pot (I am not advocating McMansions), but I do believe that the size and “soil quality” of our dwellings do affect how we move through the world.
Like most twenty-somethings living in the city, my first apartment was a very small studio perched above a jazzy nightclub/restaurant on top of Queen Anne Hill. For years, the space (be it very, very small) fit me perfectly. It was my little corner of the world and unlike many studios, the room was divided into two spaces by a large moving closet. I had a sleeping cave and living room — I truly did not need anything more. As time went on though, I felt confined as I realized I had outgrown my pot; I needed a more inspired environment — more textured. When I finally made the decision to transplant myself, I remember pondering how a potted plant might feel when we take it out of its home, add nutrients to its soil and give it more space to stretch and wiggle its roots. My moves have always prompted expansive and life-altering changes. Put into a larger pot, I reach for bigger things. I see myself differently.
“Architects, interior designers, philosophers and psychologists have speculated on the power of place and its effect on the human spirit for centuries,” writes Jamie Friddle in this month’s article, “Finding Our Happy Place.” “But it’s only within the last several years that the disciplines have joined forces.” Friddle goes on to cite some architectural components emerging from this meeting of the minds that help cultivate a stronger sense of well-being and happiness.
“Natural light and natural air stimulate productivity and creativity,” he writes. “Low ceilings promote fine attention, while high ceilings promote expansive thinking; and nature — indoors or out — calms us down and scrubs the air.”
Is it me or did my people as potted plant theory just grow a few new branches? Okay, maybe not, but when you think about it, looking to nature for superior design advice — whether it’s taking cues from leafy plants (they like a lot of light) or borrowing the aerodynamic designs of a hawk — is intuitive.
“Nature has already done what it is [we] are trying to do,” says Janine Benyus in this month’s Conversations feature. A natural history writer who coined the term biomimicry, Benyus adds, “What [we] then design tends to be informed by nature’s advice, the advice of an organism or an eco-system.”
Our conversation with Benyus was all about the new batch of designers and businesses that are looking to nature as a way to inform their designs. In the spirit of New Year resolutions and making changes, I couldn’t help but want to extend some biomimicry principles into my own life. Borrowing from my potted plant theory, I am chucking all diet and exercise resolutions and instead plan on deepening my roots, absorbing enough of life’s nutrients and sucking up as much sunlight as possible.
Cheers to a Happy New Year!
Ritzy
seattleeditor@consciouschoice.com
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