Mark Dudlik

Things I’m doing in the next 6 months:

My Day Job
Opening a Museum
Opening a Store
Managing a 2 week design event.
Making a book
Dating
Having sex with all of your mothers.

Maybe I’ve just been so overwhelmed lately that I haven’t had a chance to step back and look at things, or maybe I’ve come to some sort of epiphany, but I think I’ve started to accept my limits.

I started to embrace these limitation, and my own shortcomings. I even changed my twitter handle to mediocre asshole. I think it was a good call, but enough people told me I was being stupid for me to second guess myself. Changed it back. Still believe it to be more accurate though.

The main argument seemed to be that I was neither of those words. I disagree wholeheartedly. The asshole portion is debatable depending on who you are, but in general, I can be a dick.

The mediocre part however is beyond contention. I know what my work could be. I know that I’m so far from being exceptional that its laughable. And I know that I’m not going to get much further along in my skills/career/success than I am right now.

Why? Well…I don’t know. I just think I’ve reached my limit. I’ve done some cool stuff, but nothing extraordinary, and nothing that couldn’t be done by someone else, probably better.

This all might be a symptom of me being in some kind of rut. I’m bored with myself, perhaps. But either way, I know that I’m not doing anything groundbreaking, and I know that I’m not going to make any “top 30 under 30″ lists in the next 3 years, without something drastic happening.

Maybe I can grow by accepting that this is the best I will be. My mediocrity, my average-ness is a blessing. I don’t have to sit around and think I can change the world. I don’t have to sit around and pretend that I could get a kickstarter for 100K for my stupid book that I haven’t even written yet. I don’t have to pretend that if only I could give a speech, people would invite me to all their conferences to speak about design. Pfft. I’m nothing special kids. (Potential Fight Club quote commenters: Save it.) I’m crap, and that’s acceptable.

This is not some post meant to have people tell me I’m wrong. I know I’m right, and fuck you if you try and say otherwise. I don’t need your stupid compliments. What I need is to enjoy what I’m doing again, and that’s borderline impossible. Because what the fuck am I even doing anyway? I have no fucking clue.

And that’s okay I think. Or is it? Maybe I am stuck. This post is boring. Don’t read it. I probably should’ve started the post with a warning, but I’m too bored with this to scroll back up and fix it.

Publish.

The second TEDxPHXDC is a few weeks away and I wanted to take a second to explain whats going on with this one.

While the event is meant as an outlet for the PHXDC, members of the Phoenix Design Community, this event has some speakers who might not seem to fit into the group on first glance.

The “theme” of this iteration of the event is “Urban Catalysts.” I invited people who have a deep passion for the urban environment. A passion which is influenced not just by aesthetic but by a desire for their surroundings to thrive. There’s also an unexpected theme of people who are hard to define, who do a number of things well, not being limited to just one field or career.

Cindi Farmer is a designer for the provost at ASU. She handles a lot of the university’s sites, from usability to accessibility to brand consistency. She also studies connected intelligence and broad ideas of collaboration and creativity.

Peter Wolf is “a recovering engineer” and a lecturer at ASU. He teaches design research, among other things. He also manages a community that addresses concerns related to the overpopulation of feral cats.

Jim McPherson has worked in the biosciences field in various parts of the country for years. He is also a staple for Arizona causes, helping with preservation and improvement throughout the valley.

Michael Levine is an engineer and an artist. He has been vital to restoring buildings in Phoenix, and has helped create some stunning spaces with adaptive reuse principles.

The Haymarket Squares is a collection of people who are musicians with day jobs in completely different areas. You can find them playing in clubs or on street corners.

While these may not scream “designer”, I think the lessons and value from listening to their stories and ideas will be something special, relevant, and important not to miss.

Apply at http://tedxphxdc.com by January 20th for the event happening January 26th. Hope to see you there.