I’m always looking for inspiration, and every month I can get it from two ingenious graphic designers’ Op-Ed blogs on NYTimes.com: Maira Kalman’s And the Pursuit of Happiness and Christoph Niemann’s Abstract City.
The latest entry in And the Pursuit of Happiness is “Can Do,” in which Maira muses over Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments and his ability to do good and set goals. She writes, “I don’t think he was ever bored. He saw a dirty street and created a sanitation department. He saw a house on fire and created the fire department. He saw sick people and founded a hospital…” The lesson is that everything is invented and must be invented by people, so “don’t mope in your room. Go invent something. That is the American message.” After reading the piece, I definitely felt motivated to do anything.
