This mistake added months to my design process….
Advocating for the diversification of buildings, biomes, and businesses to establish sustainable legacies.
✔ A mistake that added months to my design process.
✔ How to spot “self-sabotage” that halts momentum.
✔ Why it's okay to move forward before you feel 100% ready
Recently, life has reminded me that it's important to keep an open mind and embrace new perspectives.
I've been thinking about switching up the newsletter schedule for a while now, and it's time! Starting in June, you'll receive shorter newsletters every other week, rather than a single long one at the end of the month.
This change feels like a breath of fresh air. You'll receive more bite-sized, digestible info and stories, and I'll be able to stay nimble and responsive to your requests.
I'm especially excited about this because I'm in the process of buying land and building a new home for myself. While it can take time, sometimes things move fast! I'm looking forward to sharing that journey with you in real-time.
Thank you for your enthusiasm for holistic architecture, and living in harmony with the land.
Love,
Christina
Keeping an open mind is critical to success.
This is true with any project, including buying land and designing a home.
When I think about some of the beliefs I held just a year ago, I have to laugh (or cringe!) at the small-minded thinking I was engaging in.
For example, in my architectural practice, I was so honed in on site-specific design that I lost sight of some practical context.
I got judgy at the idea of creating a spec plan without a site or property in mind. I chalked it up to developer-minded insensitivity and profit-driven design.
It's true that site-specific design is important, but it has often held me back from the planning process altogether.
I was being overly sensitive to the site conditions (I never knew there could be such a thing!!)
I once waited 3 months for a mature tree survey to come through before I even started thinking about the design and program for the building. This was too much emphasis on the site. It led to setbacks that could have easily been worked around later on.
More recently, in my search for land to build my home on, I found that lenders give better interest rates for construction loans that are rolled into land loans.
This forced me and my partner to get down to business and talk about what we wanted and needed in our new home. I had been putting so much focus on the land, that we lost a lot of time in laying out the basics of what we needed.
Planning isn't just about the design. It's about the conversations that come before designing—especially if you're building with someone else!
Sometimes, it's important to just get into action and get the wheels rolling.
Now that we have a general design in place, when we find the land we love, we'll be ready with a plan in mind and ballpark numbers.
It's amazing to realize how much we don't do because we're waiting for the perfect conditions. Sometimes our so-called “considerations” are just internal barriers to moving forward. Lowering those barriers and opening our minds may be all it takes to get the ball rolling.
It can be considered a kind of self-sabotage.
