Spring cleaning season came early at my home this year with some minor renovations slated in a month. While frantically trying to pack decades worth of souvenirs, letters, gadgets and books away, I have had to harshly re-examine what to keep and what to throw away…
A famous Zen story goes like this:
A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
In a way, my life was becoming much like the tea-cup – gathering many interests over the years that have helped made me who I am. It was apparent how blessed I was to have been given opportunities to learn and experience so much across different genres: Music, Graphic Design, Weiqi/Go, Economics, Marketing, Logistics, Languages, etc. Some things I picked up easily, some took a longer time for me to get. Each of these experiences taught me something and helps to inform me to this day.
Yet with other priorities and limited time on my hands now, it was time to say goodbye to some of these interests, one of which is Graphic Design.
Socrates once said, “The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know”. Going into a Branding internship in the past taught me that Graphic Design was not just about creating something fanciful, but also about the context and medium on which the graphic would be printed or shown on.
As I go deeper into Marketing, I have come to learn that Graphic Design is just one small part of a much larger picture of communication. The knowledge that I have gained can never be taken away from me, but I can no longer pursue Graphic Design in and of itself like I used to as a student. It is also apparent that there are individuals out there who are a lot more talented than me at it.
Thus, I decided to reduce the emphasis of Design as part of the content at this site as well. Instead, I will focus on 3 key topics: Marketing (of course), Analysis (this can be about anything but will most likely link back to Marketing), and Book Reviews (I LOVE READING!). Of course I would still write the occasional blog entry about random stuff, but the structure of this site would be largely as such.
I hope you enjoy your time here at Asher Wen – Marketer, Analyst, Nerd! Do give me suggestions on what you would like to read about or hear about.
Cheers,
Its a nice decision Asher,
If Graphic design is not in anyway impacting your business positively then, its good you shove it apart and focus on those areas of your business which are more important.
This is something that bloggers need to be doing from time to time as well instead of wasting time on irrelevant things.