“I’m Unveiling the Generative Capacity”: An Editor-Author Dialogue on Curiosity, Imagination, and Purpose in ‘The Art of Being & Belonging.’

Her first question was, “Why did you write this book?”

My answer: The contents of this book were not initially written as a single entity. The motivation to write it came from a question I asked myself: “In my five-decade-long journey as a student and practitioner of design, how have I evolved?” I went through all of my articles from the past 15 years, considering their relevance, evolution, and representation of my thoughts and imagination over the past five decades. Then, I organized the articles into categories represented by five sections titled as streams of thoughts. I revised and added content to bring relevance to my process of retrospection, reflection, and projection.

She then asked, “What impact do you want to have with your book?”

My answer: To define the impact I want to have, I must first clarify who my target reader is. Unlike most books written by designers, researchers, or changemakers, this book is neither prescriptive nor a toolkit of methods. I aim to evoke the interest of anyone who enjoys reading about individuals who have followed their curiosity and sought purposeful and enjoyable experiences. My target audience is interested in stories and insights from people seeking meaning in the chaos and ambiguity of life.

Having established that, the impact I want to achieve is that I want this book to plant a simple idea: everyone has a generative capacity, and nurturing it can help us live a more fulfilling life, develop a more confident self-identity, and create meaningful connections. Anyone can nurture the designer within them. Ideally, my book will spark conversations among those curious about life, exploring it through literature with a multidisciplinary and humane perspective.

We then discussed the book’s structure. I pointed out that it is divided into five sections (streams of thought), chapter headers, and smaller headers within each chapter. I have provided my own epiphanies at the beginning of each chapter, meant to encapsulate the essence of my inner voice as I reflected on the topic. When an epiphany includes the word “you,” it refers to my inner voice addressing me, not the reader. The overall tone of these epiphanies was intended to be zen-like, akin to the writings of Khalil Gibran.

I turned to Molly and asked her, “What do you think this book is about?”

She replied immediately, “It’s an independent biography. I just came up with that term. It’s not a biography in the traditional sense of narrating personal history with all the details. It’s your independent biographic journey of understanding life, imagination, and creativity.”

I agreed with her interpretation, suggesting a slight modification. I want to avoid the term “creativity” because it carries preconceived bias. Instead, I aim to introduce the concept of “generative capacity,” making the point that everyone possesses it, and if nurtured, it can serve both the individual and society well.

Molly was satisfied with my answers, and we decided to meet again after she had thoroughly reviewed the manuscript and prepared more questions.