What if, in the end, we don’t have to think about the final result, but rather become masters of improvisation — using the skills we have and the opportunities that arise in the moment?
Of course, all of this needs to have a clear thread and a solid foundation, grounded in what we do and the values that guide us through the process. In short: the why.
I feel like this is a little shared diary entry today. And, like every time I write in my diary, I like to begin by sharing where I am and how I feel.
So here I am, sitting on June 14th, in my little house in Switzerland, legs crossed Indian style as my mom would say, looking out at a view painted in all shades of green, a little bird that just landed — so now there are some browny-grey tones — and a bright blue sky.
I feel calm, because I’m finally starting to understand that this process is not something I can control in every step. Last night, my friend Amalia from the master’s program came over — she studies how to create relationships between agriculture and society — and it was really special because I live with a farmer. I’ve tried to talk to him about agriculture so many times, but it always ends up in some kind of friction. Sharing my revolutionary or utopian ideas with him always felt like mixing oil and water — we never managed to create a proper vinaigrette.
But yesterday, Amalia came with her research backpack full and, of course, she used her secret weapon: language (I speak Spanish and English, but not German — and she is German).
It was so beautiful to see how what started as a formal interview with him turned into a two-hour conversation, during which the sun set, and by the end, my housemate said: “I was skeptical at first, but in the end, it was interesting.”
And isn’t that already part of Amalia’s process? The ability to help people see that even if we don’t have a super clear idea or all the details figured out, we genuinely want to help — to be a bridge between people who want to do good but don’t know how or can’t find the time to show it. That was really special — realizing that this process, no matter how uncomfortable the uncertainty may feel, is the process.
In ecosocial design, we have to become experts in uncertainty, because the problems we face are so deeply interconnected and complex. The kind of change we want to see won’t happen overnight… BUT, maybe it’s the beginning.
The other day, my mom sent a photo to the family WhatsApp group of a drop of water falling onto a stone. The quote said:
"The drop replied: I don’t need strength, just time. Consistency achieves what strength cannot."
What I tried to do with my housemate was force my ideas and utopias onto him. But what Amalia did — after all her deep research — was listen, understand, and stay present in the conversation.
I’m reading a book called Siddhartha, and there’s this part where it says:
“To search means to have a goal. To find, however, means to be free, to be open, to have no goal.”
“When someone is searching, it can easily happen that their eyes only see what they are looking for. But because they don’t find it, they fail to let anything else in — because they’re obsessed with that one goal.”
So… what if the system we live in forces us to always be searching, and never truly finding?
What if this pressure to always be “on a mission” is actually what’s stopping us from truly finding what matters?
13:26 — for those who know me well, I follow numbers closely. 6 is my number. It tells me I’m on the right path — my lucky number.
I believe we each have something that lets us know we’re on the right track. For me, it’s the time on the clock, and how I feel about what I’m doing.
So what if in all that searching, we miss the little — but most important — details of the process?
One thing I love to tell myself during moments in this process when unexpected things happen — things that even break all my plans — is:
"Everything happens for a reason."
But if you’re not open to improvisation, that phrase is useless.
If you are… it’s such a relief.
For example — recently I organized a workshop funded by the Swiss Design Network.
AAH, I haven’t even told you about my project!!
Well, I’m from the south of Spain, from a small town Alhama de Granada, and my dad is a jeweler, and my grandma has always loved crafting. Since I was little, making things with my hands has been so important to me.
As we all know, people are leaving for big cities, and those beautiful, wise, culturally rich small towns are aging.
Knowledge can be communicated, but wisdom cannot. (from Siddhartha again). All this is slowly fading. The elders are passing away, and with them go all those ancestral skills — things you can only learn face-to-face.
You know, that whole “passed down from generation to generation” thing? Well, TikTok is not going to preserve this — because these things are transmitted by eye contact, not by staring at a screen. They're passed down through deep listening.
Anyway, I digress. That’s what I research:
How to build a regenerative economic system that provides dignified jobs to young people in rural areas.
Not just being exploited in agriculture, not extracting the land for miserable wages. Jobs with dignity. And well…
Back to the workshop with Swiss Design Network:
We were in a period when I honestly don’t know why I said yes to organizing it.
One of those moments where you ask yourself:
“Why the heck did I say yes to this with everything else I already have to do?!”
Spoiler alert… THOSE ARE THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES.
There I was, inviting all my stakeholders:
Representatives from nature, crafts, social projects, biomaterials…
And I took them all to this tiny, remote spot in my village in Andalucía — a place with NO BATHROOM (who does that?!).
I brought together company directors, farmers, artisans — all in an old flour factory to talk about the future of rural life.
Great job, Eva! What a mess you just got yourself into!
Well, in that process, something unexpected happened every single day.
Someone didn’t show up.
Someone extra came (we were supposed to be 10… we ended up 14!).
My anxiety was through the roof until I remembered…
EVA, EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON.
And yes — it really did.
Turns out, 14 people was perfect.
That strange, remote space helped people forget about their phones and really talk about the future of the countryside.
Something that, for many of them, doesn’t even affect their daily lives directly.
(Oh, and it was a Monday — these people took the day off work to be there.)
I’ll leave you with a video so you can feel the energy of that day.
You can turn on English subtitles 🙂
👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht10kLYWC-4&t=8s
So yeah — not a linear process.
Nothing searched for, but something found.
Isn’t that part of the process too?
I hope this little story inspires you when you're in those moments asking:
“What the heck am I doing?” or
“Why do I complicate my life when everyone else seems to have it so easy?” or
“Everything happens for a reason, right?”
And my favorite one:
WHAT IF…?
Thank you for reading these words that I hope ChatGPT has translated nicely (it did a great job!!)
For now… over and out.
Oh, and by the way — the project is called origin-al.
As in: being ORIGINAL, by going back to the ORIGINS.
Get it? 😄
🌿 www.origin-al.com
Eva Moreno Castillo