Logo Lesson: NVN

I was designing a logo for a business concept the other day. I thought about a typical design play of using the main letters from the company name to create an artistic alphabet visual key. As I played with them, a different concept emerged and took me down another path. Such is the creative process!

I was sitting out on my deck recently enjoying a sunny 70 degree day when I glanced over at the interplay of light and shadows on some folded lawn chairs. All at once I began to see letters with the bottom chair legs. As I continued this mind play, I first saw (upside down in my mind!) two w’s, then a v–w-v, then a normal reversal to two m’s, then n-v-n. It was there I stopped and thought about what I had just spelled. “N-V-N.”

Am I “envyin’!” my neighbor for having something I don’t have? Are there areas in my life where I’m tied up with jealousy that might be keeping me from moving forward? I’ve discovered the root cause of jealousy (and most negative thinking) is being dissatisfied with the distance between who we are and who we think we should be. When someone else is or has what we want, it makes us upset with them. But when we dig deeper, we discover we really are upset at ourselves for not being or having it yet. We may have misplaced values and aspirations that are not really where we still want or need to go.

I'm sure we all have role models living lives to which we may aspire. I want to make sure that I am not trying to have or do or be something that is not part of who I am or what I’m meant to be doing just because it looks or feels good when they have it or do it! Maybe the big mansion on the water with the chauffeured Rolls Royce isn’t really the place I belong. It takes a certain amount of energy (along with a bunch of money!) to keep up a place like that. Perhaps my energy would be better spent elsewhere! But if a house on the lake became a retreat center – for me or for my friends or clients – it could be worth the effort and upkeep.

As I grow older and enjoy my solitude and the flexibility that living below my means brings, I relish being able to pick up and travel anywhere I want any time. Should I desire to cruise on a yacht or drive a motorboat or stay in a cabin on the water, I can rent them and walk away with no worries – only great memories! Ownership doesn’t hold all the answers for everything one wants to do! It has taken me a while to realize this though.

Frankly, I’ve discovered I’m more of a country girl as far as enjoying nature and peaceful settings for inspiration – especially if there is water around me. But another part of me is the arts and culture, give-me-the-energy-of-the-crowd type of girl who loves high-rise condo living in a thriving sun-never-sets-on the-activity place like New York.

Having all these diverse interests and perspectives has helped me learn to be content with who I am, where I am, and what I have in my life. A grateful heart is the beginning of wisdom, I’m convinced.

So not N-V-N anyone else, but enjoying the moment wherever I am, has got to be the life for me! How about you?!