néo: A GAP YEAR
1. THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH: A YEAR OUT EVERY 7 YEARS
Gurus, intellectuals and psychologists encourage us to see creativity as an important part of constructing ourselves and who we are as human beings. However, stuck in a daily routine, it is difficult to give free reign to our creativity as well as “creating” ourselves. In times of “writer’s block”, perhaps it’s best to follow the advice of Stefan Sagmeister. Manager of a famous design studio in New York, he takes a year off every seven years. And he’s not the only one. The “seven year itch” is a phenomenon that is common to all of his employees. In this New York design studio, staff are obliged to take a year out every seven years to recharge their batteries.
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH” – HOW TO FIND MISPLACED CREATIVITY
1. NEW BUSINESS IDEAS
One of the more positive effects of taking a year out is the new ideas generated which can have a positive influence in the workplace. In Sagmeister’s case, taking a year off inspired a range of new furniture design as well as a new line of t-shirts, inspired by the stray dogs who would disturb his daily morning works in Bali during his time out.
Video: The benefits of time off
A talk by Sagmeister on the benefits of taking a year out (17 minutes)
2. DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY
Your work may not exactly feed your creative soul but it is possible to express your creativity in your daily routine. To do this, you will probably have to do things differently, or as Alan Fletcher says, look at things from another angle. A year out is a great opportunity to experiment in a way that is often impossible in the course of the daily routine and to find ways of expressing your creativity. As Erich Fromm said: “The conditions for creativity are the following: be skeptical, concentrate, accept conflict and tensions, wake up every day with a strong sense of self”.
Video: ABSOLUT ANTHEM
A little gem from Absolut on how to find your sense of self (Duration: 1 minute)
3. LOOK AT REALITY IN A NEW LIGHT
Perhaps what is most useful during a year out is a change of perspective. A year out can completely change your way of looking at the world – and you can never know in advance if your vision of the world before and after your time off will be a better one. Simply choosing to take a year out and to stay in the area where you live, spending some time relaxing in your local area and making some free time for all the things that you wanted to try but never had the time to do, could well change your way of doing things and you could start to see everything in your local environment in a new light.
Video: LOGORAMA
A creative tour through the city allowing you to see everyday things in a new light. (Duration: 1 minute).
4. MAKING OUR ENVIRONMENT MORE FENGSHUI
You could spend your time channeling your creativity into making your home the home you’ve always dreamed of, putting in place positive changes that will be felt for years to come. Playing with the use of space, changing the colour of the walls or the furniture, making the rooms of your home more fengshui are all good ways of making little changes in your own life. Transforming the energy of your living space can have an effect on your own energy levels and could bring about new opportunities, ideas and people into your life. Afterall, if you’ve taken a year out, it’s probably because you’ve wanted to make some changes.
Video: ARTISTIC INSPIRATION THROUGH COLOUR
The designer and cool hunter Tokujin Yoshioka presents the latest trends and creative ideas from all over the world allowing you the transform your living space (Duration: 2 minutes)
Other articles in the enews
- 1. REDISCOVERING YOUR INNER CREATIVITY Gurus, intellectuals and psychologists encourage us to be more creative. Stuck in a daily routine, it is difficult to give free reign to our creativity. Stefan Sagmeister manages a famous design studio in New York but takes a year off every seven years. And he’s not the only one. In this studio, all employees are obliged to take a year off every 7 years to refresh themselves and find new sources of inspiration. (click here for article and videos)
- 2. IMMERSE YOURSELF IN NATURE “Nature is the best teacher for showing us who we really are”. To be oneself, to leave behind the worries and doubts that everyday life can bring, enjoying the “here and now”, is something that 21st century human beings have great difficulty doing. Here are 5 destinations that will set your heart free, where you can enjoy nature during your year off. (clicca per articolo e video)
- 3. REDISCOVER YOUR SPIRITUALITY According to legend, every soul has a soul mate, a twin spirit somewhere out there. Today’s tendency is to think that this soul mate is the person with whom we should fall in love, but the Sufi poet Jalal ad-Din Rumi thought otherwise: his soul mate was a wandering dervish from Anatolia. (click here for article and videos)
- 4. LEARN TO COOK “There’s nothing better than a well-cooked omelette” or so the French proverb goes. As well as nourishing your soul, here we look at different suggestions for travelling the world with the objective of learning new cooking techniques and skills in order to take better care of our bodies. (click here for article and videos)
- 5. TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE Taking a year off and thinking only of yourself is sure to get a little boring after a while, as well as not very productive. Perhaps a good idea would be to devote oneself to a problem or an issue that affects ourselves and possibly future generations. Taking the responsibility to ensure that the world will be a better place is a very good choice. (click here for article and videos)
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