In “California Dreaming”, Bruce Sterling muses on his experiences as Visionary in Residence at Art Center College of Design, in Pasadena, California. Being there changed him. What he discovered, quoting Charles Eames, was that “Design is a method of action”, that changes its practitioners as much as those parts of the world they act on:
“When I used to write about design instead of teaching it, I found design exotic, attractive, and glamorous good copy. After teaching it, I changed. Today I find design to be thoughtful and sensible, while the daily texture of my previous life seems muddleheaded to me now, sluggish, vaguely trashy, vulgar even. Why was I like that back then? Why did I make such half-assed decisions about my tools, my possessions, and my material surroundings? Why was I so impassive, such a lazy, inveterate slob? I wasn’t any happier for that. Why did I allow myself to do little or nothing about the gross inadequacies of my personal environment? Why didn’t I take action? Why didn’t I do something pragmatic, observe the results, and improve that?…”
(Thanks to Sarah Rich of worldchanging for the link)