Lazy days of summer! We say that but when we really take a look at some of our summer days they can be anything but lazy. 
For example: on one particular summer trip a Human Art employee was so looking forward to relaxing. She had worked so hard to prepare for the trip. She had doubled up on her duties the days before in order to get everything done so she felt good about leaving. She was so excited to get out on the road to start her trip. She found herself in a car with one family member who was very Whitened and another family member who was very Blackened. The Human Art employee was Saturated. The first hour or so on the road the Saturated employee was just enjoying her time being introverted and feeling quite peaceful. Just then the others started bombarding her with questions like, “Are you ok?” “What are you thinking about?” “Why are you being so quiet?” Although it might have seemed like something was wrong to the others, actually everything was right for the Saturated employee. It just looked wrong to the other designs because they relax differently.
When we get bogged down or have too much regiment or even dwell on too much pressure, we tend to look for liberating conditions (ways to rejuvenate or free ourselves from what is weighing on us). Sometimes it is an actual vacation like for the person above, other times it may simply be a change in scenery or routine for a short time. Whatever they are, these liberating conditions will look completely different for each design.
People who are predominately Saturated look for quality conditions. So whatever they deem quality for the liberating conditions tends to be the only thing they concentrate on. For example, if they wanted to go on a trip specifically to relax they would do the best job at relaxing and find the best conditions in which to do that. Their “Can Be” is they tend to be all or nothing, so if they can’t relax or find a quality way to do it they tend to not want to do anything else.
People who are predominantly Whitened just like to go with the flow and find the spontaneity in each new day. They’ll love to just wake up and see where the day takes them. They love to be social and surround themselves with as many people as they can. The “Can Be” is that they don’t like to plan, so they can run into some chaos.
People who are predominantly Grayed love to romance the details of their liberation. They love the planning part of a trip or the liberating conditions and oftentimes get more pleasure in the process leading up to the trip. They like to take their time and relish in the details of their surroundings. The “Can Be” is they can over think, get overwhelmed, and expect the rest of the group to move at their pace.
A Blackened person is very task driven and projects are very relaxing to them. They either plan tasks or projects the entire trip or during the time they are liberating or they plan out events and take you from place to place to place. The awesome thing is you experience a lot and don’t miss out on anything. They tend to fill every moment with something to do. The “Can Be” is they can run you ragged and wear you out and you come home from the trip or liberating conditions exhausted and needing another vacation.
It is important to rejuvenate in the way you relate to liberating conditions and allow others to do it in their way. When we don’t take into consideration the designs of the other people around us and the way they liberate, we can really cause problems in relationships. There is high potential to miss each other. Just like the earlier example of our employee, the other people in the car would have welcomed her silence if they would have understood her better.
Each person on a trip or involved in liberating conditions could take responsibility to provide their own fun and relaxation, but we also need to be open to each other and make sure there’s plenty of liberating time for all designs involved. We would all do better to take into consideration the other designs’ activities before the trip and plan accordingly. It will teach us all how to have more fun and a lot more empathy for others. We all have all four designs so when we take the time to participate in another design’s activities we really can play to that part of our design.
So remember to have fun this summer! Stop and take time for liberating conditions, do it in the way that suits you best, and have enough empathy for others to give them equal time.
And remember everyone’s a masterpiece.
harder to recognize.
We all have what is known in Human Art as “can be’s.” “Can be’s” are our best traits turned negative. They are characterological defects; negative traits we are not born with but have picked up along the way. Our good traits usually turn into “can be’s” when we experience negative emotions, such as feeling insecure or inadequate. When this happens we take one of the best traits from our design and push it just a little too far. When we do that we run the risk of it becoming a “can be.” We call them “can be’s” because they are potential negative traits. It can be negative, but isn’t always. If you have the positive side of a trait from your design it does not mean you automatically have the negative side (or the “can be”). It just means there is potential to go into the negative side of that trait. The best part of a “can be” is it is only one step back and we are immediately on the positive side of the trait again.