I’ve always thought of myself as an enthusiastically positive, and easy-to-please person. I’ve always maintained a set of personal beliefs, interests, and opinions but strive not to impose those upon others or judge anyone by any kind of standards. I’ve never really been one of those people who fit into any of societies molds, so accepting other peoples incongruities has always been a priority.
Selfish, cocky, and opinionated are words I never thought would be used to describe me, but it seems that working as a designer has really brought to the surface some ugly traits. Working on an art project with Ames recently caused an argument which, although I didn’t see it at the time, could only be explained by my own obstinate refusal to be open minded. Realizing that this wasn’t an isolated incident, we talked out the issue and I decided to try a little harder to be more easy going. Since then I’ve been trying to be more introspective, especially when handling situations where I have more experience than Ames.
Today though, during a “conversation” with one of my co-workers about how a certain website design company’s look was not the design direction we want to be moving in, I really couldn’t help but take note of my own dogmatic approach to the conversation. Instead of being a team-player, looking for the positive in the work, and offering constructive reasoning, I shot down the designs using web-standards and efficiency as my weapon of choice. I think the words, “Well, you used to think that way.” were what really brought me back down to earth. Being a designer sometimes requires a willingness to go against the flow, but being an employee; and more importantly a husband, requires a willingness to set aside selfish egotistical ideals, and work as a unit. Besides, who wants to be known as a pompous asshat?
Editor’s Note: Apologies for the foul language, I’ve just been amused with that word since I saw if for the first time on airbag. I actually heard someone say it on TV last night…so that makes it ok to use in my blog, right? 🙂
HAHA! Greg Storey actually posted about the use of “his word” on television. I guess I wasn’t the only person that caught it.