Yesterday afternoon I was called to a job site to discuss the placement of suspended track lighting with the electrician. The original electrical drawings showed the track lighting suspended by cables from the cathedral celiling. The track was supposed to be configured in a rectangle, defining the living area within the larger living/dining room.
A little background....The design of this particular project is a somewhat industrial aesthetic. My clients like to call the original version "early meth lab." We have a metal roof, metal siding, solar voltaic and solar hot water panels on the exterior, and simple detailing, exposed spiral ductwork, and painted plywood floors in many areas on the interior.
Back to the story....It turns out that the exposed ducts and suspended ceiling fan were interfering with the locations of the track and the cables that support them. I needed to rethink the track design. Scary. I called my clients to discuss their furniture layout ideas. Luckily, they were both available, and we soon got a conference call going, while I was standing in the middle of their soon to be living room. (Gotta love technology). As the conversation progressed, I started letting go of my preconceived idea of the lighting design. Why did the lighting need to define the whole space? Why couldn't it become smaller, more centralized, and still achieve the same end result? No reason! In fact, I really started liking the new design idea and especially liked that it came from a functional, rational place.
I am going to try to carry this release of preconceived notions into more of my daily life. It was so liberating to let go of an idea, and let a new one evolve.
“…there are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths.” Mark Nepo
