Universal Design: Obama And Sultey

In our nation, there is much relief and hope with the coming Obama administration. I like seeing him speak, I look forward to his words, and I am excited about his choices. He seems personable and genuinely caring.

On December 10 he announced members chosen to be on his green team. I watched the press conference and saw something unusual as a result of a rare camera angle. When it was Nancy Sutley’s turn at the podium the camera shot switched from the rear of the room to the side of the stage. I watched as President Elect Obama moved forward and using his foot, pushed a stepping stool into position for her. The gesture was personal; they shared a glance that was endearing and which acknowledged and appreciated the caring and the forethought. Seen from the back of the room, as in most network coverage, one saw little more than an odd smile.

With these extra inches to stand on, she presented her speech in no way marginalized by her shorter physical stature. Without these extra inches, she would barely peer over the podium, or, would have stood to its side, an action that would have unfairly singled her out from the other speakers.

I myself am very tall. This is seen in our culture as an asset. Politicians sometimes win and loose an election based on having added height. Short is never an advantage. In universal design, short or tall is affects usability, however, as seen in this example, one appreciates a different focus: height impacts perceptions of capability, tall is better, bolder and more powerful. This adaptation in the press conference leveled the playing field and gave us the opportunity see the people more clearly for their achievements and ambitions, not a physical attribute.

The application of universal design is ever evolving. In this example, a one-size-fits-all approach to design, the podium, heightens our perception of differences. A person can be marginalized not only by an environmental barrier to performing a given task but by how they are perceived in a given environment. Environment can enhance our perception of a person or diminish it (think Alice In Wonderland). Environments that strive to support equal perception of the people who function in them would be yet another evolution of universal design.


Konrad Kaletsch
Universal Design Resource
December 19, 2008

Tour Watch

Universal Design: You Are The Expert

Let me ask an expert…

We attribute expertise to one who has extensive training and experience. It is someone with comprehensive and authoritative knowledge. They have skills gained from years of practice. We defer to them for answers and guidance.

When it comes to universal design, the definition of expert applies to you; you are the expert. Routines repeated around your home over many years have bestowed you with these credentials. What takes you beyond the beyond is a depth of individualized research and a profound familiarity with your subject, you. You’ve been adjusting your environment to work as best as it can; there is hardly another expert out there that knows more than you. How is it that you became this expert?

You unknowingly became an expert by the very attributes that make you unique. What works for you doesn’t always work for someone else. Someone with great physical strength uses force; genius uses intelligence. What emerges is that the variety of human ability is infinite. It is variety that is normal, not some standard that there is a normal. Let’s start with 1000 people and sort out who is normal: If our first filter is average height, we quickly reduce the number of “normal” people in our survey down to a few hundred. Our next filter, average weight, reduces our “normal” people further. Let’s have one more filter, age. Now we have a handful of people that constitute normal based on just three filters! If we build for this “normal” person we are in fact building for a very few people leaving the other 900 to bend lower, reach higher, and in other ways force their bodies to work in ways that don’t feel normal (a few won’t be able function at all).

A normal person doesn’t really exist yet we design as if they do. Primary work stations such as kitchens still have a one size-fits-all approach. This leaves many unable to use parts because they are too high, too low, too dark, too heavy, etc. You adapt your kitchen as best as possible to work for you.

If we shift the focus from an expert over there to the expert in you, your contribution matters greatly, yet, there is no place for your experience to be recorded; there is no place where you and other experts can collectively design a better kitchen. Until that opportunity exists, some guy in front of a computer fishing for statistics will design for a “normal” person hoping to sell as many products as possible at the lowest cost.

Universal Design Resource is developing a new web experience where your collective knowledge is brought into forums, discussions and blogs where the best solutions can emerge and guide those that design and fabricate our products and environments. Our launch is in early 2009.

Konrad Kaletsch
November 19, 2008

Universal Design: AARP's Life@50+

I would like to say that a conspiracy took place – at least there’s intention and action in a conspiracy.

At this year AARP Life@50+ annual convention in Washington DC, twenty-five thousand attendees left knowing as much about universal design as when they walked in (nearly none). I really doubt that this was AARP’s intention; perhaps, in all the excitement of pushing product and keeping the 50+ crowd entertained, it just was overlooked.

After walking miles of convention floor for endless hours, I was amazed by the complete absence of universal design as knowledge. There are a number of advocacy organizations, but none had a booth. Not the Center for Universal Design at NCSU, not Adaptive Environments from Boston, not TRACE from Wisconsin, not Universal Design Alliance, not IDEA at SUNY Buffalo, not Concrete Change, not the National Aging in Place Council, not the National Association of Home Builders and their CAPS (Certified Aging in Place) program nor the National Council on Independent Living, and, none of the manufactures or retailers who are committed to universal design such as Toyota, Lowes, Toto, Humanscale, or General Electric. Nothing. Not even a handout.

Here’s what could be at Vegas@50+ next year: Let’s start with a Universal Design Pavilion (pavilions is how AARP clusters exhibitors by theme). The intention is that all attendees leave knowing at least enough about universal design to acquire it when they want it. This would be supported by handouts, including one in the bag you get when you register, strong visual presence at the UD pavilion itself, interactive displays, additional resources and handouts, workshops, membership drives among the advocacy groups, surveys (data mining to further understand what it takes to create universal design communities), and opportunities for manufacturers to display their commitment to products that support the independent lifestyle that you love. In addition, it would be great to see a celebrity personality give universal design a bit of pizzazz, some wow-ness.

At the core of this endeavor would be Universal Design Resource, and its president, Konrad Kaletsch, providing the leadership necessary for the fulfillment of this expanded awareness. It is easy to imagine the 75,000 attendees, now knowledgable about universal design, telling friends over the following year. If they each have 14 conversations about universal design, one million lives improve as a result. Pretty neat.

Universal Design: The Missing Keyword

There are times in life when we need certain answers. We have many methods for getting those answers suited to who we are as individuals. We contact friends, we search the internet, we go to bookstores, etc. What will thwart our searching, no matter how thorough our technique, is when the answer we seek is hidden. I’m not talking about an answer that hasn’t been invented; I’m talking about answers that are there and would help you move forward. They are the answers to problems that others struggled over and mastered. They are answers that have been tested and refined. It is accumulated knowledge, but you can’t even stumble upon it! And so, with some frustration, you “reinvent the wheel” clumsily moving forward and making all the same mistakes each person made before you.

In many cases, the missing answer is contained in a keyword that, like the key to a castle, unlocks and reveals the kingdom: no keyword, no access, no info … nothing. Universal design is an excellent example a missing keyword. As an advocate of universal design, there is hardly a conversation where the person I am speaking with knows the term or the knowledge it represents. Without much explanation, they quickly understand it, and for the rest of their lives have at their disposal the key to that kingdom.

As an advocate for universal design, I do not demand that you adopt it; you will choose what is right for you. However, I want you to have that key; I want it there for you when you need it; I want you to be able to move with ease and velocity when the need arises. I want you to have the answers that have been developed over thirty years by some outstanding people committed to your life being as great as it can be. I want you to enjoy your independence and to have a life of ongoing opportunity.

You are a key holder as you have found and are reading this blog. My request is that you pause and think about ten people in your life who do not have this key and for whom having this key would make a difference. Contact them, now. Maybe they are your parents or your parent’s friends; maybe your architect or builder; or, maybe your political representative. Tell them about universal design and where to look for answers; Google the keyword, “universal design” or start at my website, http://www.universaldesignresource.com/. Give ten people the key and spare them the frustrations of fruitless searching.

Universal Design: Let Your Home Work For You

Decreasing the time spent taking care of your home and increasing the time your home takes care of you.

According to a survey conducted by the AARP, 89 percent of people older than 50 wish to remain at home, rather than move to other housing options. The question not being asked is how do you make this possible? At what point does your home hinder you rather than serve you?

I’m a home improvement nut. My idea of exercise is digging a 20' trench and installing an 8” culvert … by hand. At 46, I can pull that off. At 56? Probably (add a chiropractic adjustment). At 66? I doubt it. Even I will one day be overwhelmed by my home (never, I say). But, between now and then, I can do things that will reduce or prevent that day. This culvert is such an improvement; my annual driveway maintenance will decrease: less washouts, fewer repairs, easier plowing, smoother and safer driving.

As you contemplate improvements in a home that you plan to stay in, ask yourself these questions: Will the improvement I am about to make be one that will last for years to come? How soon will it need to be maintained, repaired or replaced? Is there a better solution? If I spend less, have I spent wisely? Or, has cost-cutting provided short-term gains only to leave me with a costly expense in the future?

Consider this wisdom, “Decisions made in haste are regretted in leisure.”

Here is a short list of home improvements that reduce maintenance. Add to this list as you renovate through Internet searches and conversations with experienced professionals.

• Favor no-maintenance siding on your house such as vinyl, or more environmentally sound, brick or stone. Choose long lasting roofing.
• Favor surfaces and designs that clean easily.
• Favor furniture over built-in. For example, a hallway wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair might look awkward especially if the rest of the home doesn’t have a spacious feel, so, install a bookcase that can be one day easily removed.
• Apply universal design as much as possible.
• Throw stuff out – give up attachment to the things that have no more meaning in your life; gain freedom and clarity in the process for something new.
• If moving, choose a neighborhood that has supplies, services and activities nearby, and one that has useful public transportation.
• Keep choosing access and convenience – if something is going to be difficult to use, don’t get it.
  

Being motivated by the fear of loosing independence, or a vision of ongoing independence is useful. Grab the impulse (the visioning one feels better) and run with it. You’ll be happy to be one of the people who says, “ I’m glad I did it that way; I'm secure, comfortable and live a great life.”

Konrad Kaletsch © 2008, Universal Design Resource, June 30, 2008

Universal Design: Consciousness Precedes Form

Being green has been around for a long time. However, in the last year a tipping point was reached and green is now visible everywhere. Governments are doing it, business is doing it, schools are teaching it, and even the “bad” guys, such as the petroleum industry, are dabbling with it. We are still on our way to the tipping point for universal design.

Much like being green, the tipping point is reached once we recognize that the box we are living in is just too small. Like any box, it’s fit is limited both by space and time. As our natural state is growth, the logical evolution is that at some point we need a bigger box, just like a hermit needs bigger shell. In the field of universal design, we are just beginning to feel the limits of an outdated box, yet, we’re not aware of the limits that we have outgrown; we just feel the pinch.

The typical behavior of living inside a box that has grown too small is to look for answers inside the box. It’s absurd, but it’s what we do. The irony is that the answer to expanding the box is outside the box. The other paradox is that from inside the box we can’t see outside the box. This experience is frustrating and the first results show up as conflict. Without a method or trick, the state of conflict grows until we experience is as a pain so great we collapse in defeat and surrender to the change.

The good news is that there is a trick/method for accessing expansion, and, it’s ridiculously simple: ask a guiding question. If we want to kick the petroleum habit, an outgrown and limiting box, we could ask, “How are we gonna live well without petroleum?” That’s not a good question and perhaps you can see why, it’s still inside the box! Here’s the good and guiding question: “What would life on this planet look like if our energy needs were met through healthy and safe means?” You can answer that question, can’t you? The answer feels pretty good doesn’t it? You can even see an action to take. The box just got bigger, didn’t it?

The technique is based upon preceding the form with consciousness. The access to consciousness is through expansive questioning. The answer shows up through insight. A garnish of patience adds ease to the process. Frustration and conflict can’t and don’t exist in this environment; wisdom, creativity and genius do. One beckons the consciousness, which is then answered with form.

Here are some universal design questions:

• What is possible for us all when we live in an inclusive and human centered society?
• What are the gifts I have that would contribute to those less able-bodied?
• How can I manifest this higher vibration of a society that leaves no one behind?
• What does design look like that profoundly supports our sense of joy, independence, security, confidence and comfort?
• What lifestyle is possible for me if I have taken steps to include universal design in my life?

Konrad Kaletsch © 2008, Universal Design Resource, June 20, 2008

Universal Design: 10-Minute Improvements

“I did not know that!” There are many steps one takes toward becoming a universal design environment and many are as simple as a trip to the store or a few simple changes in the home. Many are common-sense improvements which contribute to your home working with greater ease.

• Increase light output by using highest wattage bulb allowed by manufacturer; have two-bulb fixtures as often as possible and you will still have light even when one bulb burns out.
• Create a place where you can sit comfortably and have everything within reach including ample light, phone, TV and remote, radio/music, computer, tissues, wastebasket, beverage & snacks, reading & writing materials, and medications.
  
• Install more phones especially bathroom and next to bed; look for large illuminated text screens.
  
• Consider removing upper cabinet doors in the kitchen (maybe lower ones too) and remove doors where ease of access would become an advantage (closet).
• Add night lights for dark rooms and hallways.
• Add non-slip stickers to slippery areas such as outdoor steps, bathtub, shower and even slippery indoor floors (non-slip mats are good too).
• Reorganize stuff: put the frequently used items within easy access (lower closet bar); remove that which is no longer used.
• Replace items that are hard to use with ones that are easy to use; Oxo products, such as GoodGrips, update many common kitchen utensils with bigger handles, smarter design and lower strength requirements.
  
• If the bathroom mirror is poorly positioned, add a second adjustable mirror.
• Raise the toilet seat with a raiser attachment; install a grab bar (the toilet paper holder isn't a grab bar).
• Journal! Collect additional tips, resources, photographs and contacts. Use the journal to ask and answer, “What is the modification that would improve/restore livability?” Record the improvements you would like to make, why they seem to address the problem, and, what you see as the problem. This is a journal you might keep for years until the big day when you renovate, relocate or build a new home.
• Improve your computer work station: adjustable chair with armrests, raised monitor, glare-free lighting, straight posture, feet flat on floor, forearms sloping slightly down to the keyboard (laptops are pretty much a disaster for your body).
• Remove hazardous throw-rugs that are easily tripped on. If keeping throw-rugs; use double-sided carpet tape to hold them in place.
• Tidy-up other trip hazards such as extension cords.
  
• For round doorknobs that are hard to use, switch to or add a lever handle that fits over the existing round one; replace knobs that are hard to grab with handles that you could open with a closed fist.
  
• For dark cabinets, purchase an easy-to-install battery operated light.
• Acquire a wheeled cart to move stuff about.
• Keep making new friends!
  

Universal Design: More than Your House

Another area of self evaluation will be your economic forecast. Most simply, will there be enough financial resources for you to live the way you wish to live? Managing your assets always mattered, however, the retirement model you grew up with has little remaining practical value. To retire at age 65 and to have a nice life for the next 20 years requires a crazy amount of money – think millions (you might have less than $50,000.00 cash). Or, you’ll considerably scale back your lifestyle (about 60%). Neither are reasoned actions. When this retirement model was created, lifespan was 65; death and retirement happened about the same time. To survive a 20 year vacation, one needs a new model.

The old model was a rugged three-legged stool: savings/assets, social security and pension fund. Social security has not kept pace with inflation and will likely provide less as the wage earners that support it decrease and the dependents increase. Employers are moving out of pension savings to reduce expenses and compete in a global market. Statistically your savings have dropped. So what does a new model financial picture look like? It has four legs: savings/assets, post-retirement job, investments, and your own past contribution to a retirement plan such as an IRA. This is a productive aging society model. Universal design becomes essential for this model to thrive as it acknowledges and prepares for an older workforce.

Universal Design: Try Before You Buy

You’re a construction worker, single and moving into a new rental apartment. Unknown to you it has been updated applying universal design. Not a bad place. Bigger bathroom, wider doors and hallways, everything is easier to reach. Different, but good. Then one day, oops, hernia. Back home after the hospital, whew, this apartment is really great! It’s making life easy as you recover, especially when coughing by itself is a chore, never mind having to manage the rest of day-to-day living. You later discover the apartment owner had renovated the apartment for his father and learn about universal design; forever you will include it in your life – it made that much of a difference.

Without having a hernia, how can you appreciate universal design? Here are a few games to try that take away some degree of mobility and foster an appreciation for designs that accommodate your changing condition:

1. Tired legs: Add about 5-10 pounds to each leg – ideally use an ankle cuff weight and wear as much as possible. Discover the extra effort needed just to walk. Looking for elevators and benches now?
2. Car-less: Leave the car at home for one week. Who’s driving you around? How convenient is public transportation?
3. Arthritis: Invent ways to mimic the loss of grip with your hand or loss of mobility. Use medical tape to restrict your thumb or finger’s movement. Wear an undersized jacket from the thrift store and move without ripping the shoulder seams.
4. Vision Impairments: Be responsible and safe with this one. Wear an eye patch and notice diminished depth of field. Wear sunglasses throughout the day and into the evening. How much more light is enough? To a pair of eyeglasses, (use non-prescription if you don’t have eyeglasses), smear a thin film of soap. Can you dial a phone number?
   

As you visit places, think about your mobility as if some aspect of your body was less than able. Remember that time when you had crutches. Or, observe how others are getting about. I see moms with strollers navigating the NYC subway – it’s a two-person operation and they struggle when on their own. Have fun; explore.

Universal Design: Am I Too Overwhelmed?

Yes I am overwhelmed! Being overwhelmed is normal and everyone agrees. However, overwhelm doesn’t have to be an unchallenged way of life. Overwhelm is the condition of being a victim, only in this case the perp isn’t some guy with a mask and a gun, it’s the job, the bills, the inbox, the kids, the home and every other circumstance that wants to rob you of you.

The first and only step out of being a victim is taking 100% responsibility for your life – you did it, all of it. Nobody did anything to you not even some deity, be it good or evil. Once assumed, no longer do things happen to you, you are allowing them to happen, sometimes through ignorance, and are responsible for their happening. Wow. That’s good news – back in the driver’s seat! Phew.

If I am the driver, and right now I seem to be driving myself crazy with stress, where in fact would I actually want to go? If I look down the road I’m on I see sickness, upset, anger, fear, frustration and disease. Desirable destination? NO! But I can’t see any options either – no side roads, no U-turns. If I am taking this journey off the road called Overwhelm, I’m gonna need help. I’ll need a map, some friends and a few new ways of doing business. Wow. I’m not sure how, but, this is gonna work!

Fast forward to some time later: You’re the master of your life just from this simple shift to being responsible. You don’t complain anymore. Being 100% responsible handled overwhelm and is handling other areas too such as finance. You are as engaged in life as before, but the experience is one of play, joy and passion. Life no longer occurs as a series of crisis that blindside you; it’s not like driving through the fog. The destination, though far off, is now clear and intentional.

Now can I look at universal design? Yes. I can see that it’s a bit like insurance – not a lot of fun, but something that gets handled. It’s now part of my master plan as much as finances, fitness, a sense of community, my emotional stability and my growing ability to care for others. I am creating my future; it is mine to create; and, it will indeed be good.

Universal Design: Destination or Journey?

One day, there will be the ultimate universal design handbook. It will have well conceived answers to every design quandary, each achieved cost effectively and with elegance.

No. That would be as if universal design was a destination, a place we arrive at where solutions were the intention of its creation. This notion that a checklist can be created pervades the present consciousness of legislators and building inspectors alike. We will have measures by which we can recognize the effectiveness of our solutions, however, what brings us closer is when universal design is understood as a journey.

Universal design gives a place from which to look. It is our starting point and it is our compass. As we travel, we find that we have come further and that there is more to go. But to imagine that we arrive is to fall back to a notion that it could become a set of solutions, and that we must conform to them. That would assure that universal design could never be more than a trend, never more than a set of laws that some day gets trashed as disappointment by a future generation.

Universal design is a crackle of possibility seeking expression. It is an opportunity of liberation. It is a willingness to get a lesson thus far not learned. It is a letting go of old thought.

The promise of universal design is inclusiveness. As such, it represents a shift in consciousness more than a recipe. It represents a shift away from a thinking that is rooted in fear, doubt, worry and anxiety. It moves from scarcity to abundance; from stingy to generous; from me to us, from excluded to included. Universal design is an expression of compassion, and, compassion gives us true peace.

Universal Design: But I’ll Be Fine

I go to sleep at night, not wondering if the sun will rise tomorrow. I don’t ponder if there will be a winter next January. I won’t check the night sky to see if the moon is still there. All those seem like certainties – they seem guaranteed.

I also don’t wonder if I will be alive tomorrow. I don’t worry about how much time I have left. I don’t worry if the salt and sugar is hardening arteries and forming diabetes. I don’t even worry if I’ll have enough cash when I get old. So, how could I spend much mental energy on universal design when myself and my surroundings suggest, “don’t worry about it; you’ll be fine; you’ll figure it out.”

Thinking about aging puts a knot in my stomach that I would rather not feel. I’m much happier pretending that I will be fine. I’m much happier worrying about the past day and the next one. To concern myself with the life I’ll be living 30 or 40 years from now just doesn’t hold my interest.

Is there a technique that I can apply that would help me take actions today that would assure an independent, secure, comfortable and joyful future? How do I get excited and motivated?

Remember the vacation you always said you would take and then finally took? The process began with a dream or maybe an impulse. A bit of research, a few conversations, some internet, and then one day, you hit CONFIRM and you had yourself a ticket, a hotel and a car. Did you just drift back into a ho-hum, everything-is-normal way of being, or did you have a spring in your step? Did you focus on the work at hand, or did you think about that cool cocktail being served to you as you glow in a setting sun. Once you had that ticket, you were not normal – you told the world; you cut out of work early and got a new outfit for the vacation. You were gone in a few weeks – you couldn’t wait!

That’s the technique that gets you revved up about life 30, 40, 50 or maybe even 60 years from now. It won’t be a pretense either – you’ll be on a real track. Here’s how it goes: much like the dream vacation, start to imagine your dream lifestyle as an older person. Who are you? Who have you become (go ahead and say these things out loud, write them in a journal, or create a mental image)? Are you rich in cash, rich in spirit, rich in love? Do you live in the sun or the cold? Are you social or solo? Is the family big? What will make you happy? What would you like to be doing for others? Do you live in the city or country? This is your fantasy – if you catch yourself being reasonable, cut it out, go wild! Get everything in there that you want to be and have.

With this vivid mental picture of yourself as an older person, imagine moving toward the present by ten years. Ask yourself this question: what would I have so that this dream is on track for being realized? Let’s say you pictured yourself at age 70 living on a beautiful ranch in Montana. Move forward ten years to age 60 –what have you done by 60 to be on track for that vision at 70; maybe you just moved to Montana. Once clear, move forward another ten years. Fill in that picture. In the example, you are now 50; what has to be complete by 50 so that the picture of 60 is a slam dunk? Maybe you have to sort out a new means of income so you can pack up and move to Montana. As we get closer to the present (let’s say that you are presently 40 years old), the time jumps are shorter. You would go from a picture of life at 50 to 45, then to one year from now, to 6 months from now, to 1 month, to one week, to now. What do you do right now so that next week will be a done deal (and then one month from now, 6 months, one year, age 45, then 50, them 60 and then 70)? Your right-now action might be to research Montana and begin planning a trip there – right now! And you are excited!

If at the beginning of this post, I asked, “what are you doing today so that being age 70 is gonna be just great,” your answer might be much less passionate, “uh, I have an IRA.” Now, many meaningful conversations are possible including one about universal design – in fact, it’s critical to your desired lifestyle at age 70, and, it also makes the years in between much more livable.

Are you planning on living in your own home at age 70? Will you be mobile? Will you still be earning an income? Will you be social? Will others be able to visit you? What do you want to do for others? An environment with universal design will make that future much more possible than one without. Your next action, right now, is to click: Universal Design Resource Find out more, discover.

Konrad Kaletsch, April 30, 2008

Universal Design: Really, Why?

We know the primary reasons for universal design: It's inclusive; it doesn't marginalize; it's social sustainable; it's economically sensible; it creates opportunity; it supports independent living; and, it provides ease and comfort. None of that is bad or even questionable, but, really, why? Why have all those qualities? Why be more mobile, more secure, more independent, more comfortable or more economically sensible? With all that, what do you get?

The intention of the question is to search beyond meeting basic lifestyle needs.

Long ago, humans fought hard just to survive. Today, many have sorted out survival - probably a bit to well. The need to survive was replaced by the need to consume. In order to consume, you need mobility. Get to a job; trade a skill for cash, go buy stuff. To be cut out of this loop isn't fair; inclusiveness matters. But what else? You have reduced barriers and restored your ability to participate. Was it just to jump back into the exercise wheel?

Survival is essentially human. However, consumption is a decadent devolution that comes long after the mastery of survival. If we are only hunks of flesh and bone, then there is little else to say - make as much money as you can, and to the victor goes the spoils.

But, we are more than a body that we spend 70ish years keeping fed, sheltered, rested and alive, aren't we?

The other half of who we are as humans are eternal beings: energy, light, love, God, beauty - choose the one that fits you. As such, we have the opportunity to connect to the eternal and manifest it in this human one. Now, being alive goes way beyond food and shelter. Yes, those things have to be handled, but, they are handled so you can manifest something greater.

When universal design promises comfort, that's great. Make it happen. You won't be much good manifesting the eternal if you are limited as a body. But once you have that worked out, don't settle for your return to the consumption exercise wheel, stop, ask yourself, why am I here? What footprint will I leave behind when I am gone that has made this a better place? The answer to that is in the eternal, not the flesh.

Access to the eternal is in the quiet, not the action. How do I know what it is for me to do? You be quiet and you listen. You trust. You put practices in place to support this. Practices might be meditation or journaling. Contemplate bigger things; ask bigger questions. Maybe you will be guided toward solving world hunger; maybe you will make one other person happy. In answering to the eternal, you will find bliss. In answering to the eternal, you will leave a great footprint.

Universal design, why? So you can restore for yourself and others your ability to participate fully as a human, and, so you can get back to your very own profound expression of the eternal.

Universal Design: Boomers Know

Baby Boomers have had quit a run and it is far from over. They created civil rights, a sex revolution and aerobic exercise. Their presidents included Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush. Their health improved and they are living longer. They are wealthy. In 2007 the first boomer collected social security. As they enter what used to be known as their retirement years, it is up to them again to define who they are by defining what it means to be an older person.

Will Boomers draw on their lifestyle from the 1970's, aka the "Me" generation? Will their lives over age 65 be defined by only their needs and wants? Or will they redefine what it means to have lived a full life and to pass on a planet to a succeeding generation that is better than the one they inherited?

There are many ways to step into this responsible time of life. Not so long ago, living past age 65 was itself a blessing, not something that could be counted on. Today, 65 is 55 - no shortage of possibilities. So what responsibilities will Boomers take on? Universal design fulfills on social sustainability. Boomers can take on this responsibility perhaps more easily as it is also serves ones own self interest.

To embrace universal design would be to personally acknowledge that one is aging (yikes - not by the generation that invented the cult of youth). What is physically possible has changed. One had 20/20 vision. Then in the 40's the eye muscles loose full power and one needs reading specs. By the 50's one begins to loose low light ability as contrast sensitivity diminishes. By the 70's you might have not only minimal contrast but also poor focus. You adapted to the changes in eyesight, why not apply that same adaptability throughout the rest of your environment and much as you maintained the ability to see, also maintain the ability to live independently.

To apply universal design in your life is to honor yourself. It is a commitment to think about your future and to build accordingly. Our lives are lived in many homes. As we approach retirement, we tend to plan one more move or renovation. This is the window to move forward with universal design. It is in the planning stages that universal design adds little to the construction, renovation or relocation costs. How much? Typically between 1 and 2%.

In looking at a generation leaving a legacy, universal design ongoingly provides the full and independent lifestyle so cherished and provides everyone else with an environment that is more livable. Mobility is easier for moms with strollers; grandparents can visit their children's homes, homes can once again be multi-generational, and those with disabilities become less disabled because the environment isn't designed for able bodies only.

For years to come, http://www.universaldesignresource.com/, has much information to assist you in developing your awareness and becoming a consumer fit to serve the person you've been caring for, yourself, as well as those around you, your community.