Sunday, February 26, 2017

Elevation: Inspiring Communities

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an art show at a beautiful library in a privileged community in New England. The library was designed by a famous architect and the minute I walked into the small building, I was inspired. Not only was the building beautiful inspiring, but the way it was set on the land in the small community was similarly wonderful. As I often think when I experience places of beauty, Why can't every community profit from such natural and architectural beauty?

In what ways can we pool our resources to support inspiring, welcoming communities? What creativity can we bolster to make this happen? What lesser material objects and projects can we sacrifice in order to support more beautiful and inspiring spaces?

On Friday night in Cambridge, MA, I had a similar feeling as I watched people comfortably bike down safe bike trails. I also watched children and adults playing at a wonderful little neighborhood park.

Paying attention to our natural and human-created spaces and places makes a difference in the kind of lives we have. In a time when many jobs are lost to automation, I think we can look for ways to elevate the communities we live in by paying more attention and time to our architected and natural spaces and places with regard to jobs and money.