Inspired

Think of inspiration and common themes occur – nature, family and sport. I’m afraid I find it in none of these. But as I think about my inspiration, one word does keep cropping up/ average. Maybe average is the thing that motivates me the most. Well, the avoidance of average, anyway.

No one is an average person, no one leads an average life. Yet still, average is everywhere: anonymous, labyrinthine housing estates, beech-veneered furniture, Pacific Rim three-door hatchbacks and Saturday night TV.

Members of the Cornwall Design Forum certainly deserve more than average. In March, I became chairman of an organisation that had achieved a lot, and had inspired other regions to do something similar, but was beginning to lose momentum. Average was starting to creep in.

As a person, I don’t want to be an average husband, or an average dad. God certainly asks more of me than just average. And as a designer, what use is average?

Sometimes, being conscious of what is average is enough to avoid it. And while average continues to linger, I’ll continue to be inspired.