60 Second Documentary: The Importance of Maintaining Balance - Research

The project wanted to research 'The Importance of Maintaining Balance' - a theoretical concept that has been somewhat lost in our prevalent capitalist mode of life.

This topic came about off the back of my current engagement in the children's program 'Avatar The Last Airbender' as well as the contextual research undertaken prior within my contextual practice module. That research was into other ways of being, and the importance of maintaining cultural diversity, throughout humanity and in light of the mass extinction of animals - its interconnectivity - and that the white dominant male-centric capitalist mode of life is just limited to a proportion of the human population (the dominant one) and that there are many other lifestyles, languages, medicines, philosophies, etc that hold as much relevance and influence and significance as our own.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

• The show contains a hefty amount of theory and ideologies from many of traditions.
• Lots of ancient concepts and ways of life / historical events translated through the characters, such as ideals of war and dominance, as well as more holistic solutions to problems
• Notions of capitalism vs spirituality / ancient ways of living being sacrificed at the prospect of money and power etc humanity vs nature and so on 
• Off the back of my research into COP and the Anthropocene, these ideas were very relevant to the ideas that I had been investigating. It was brilliant to see a children's program that promoted eastern ways of seeing and being towards a predominantly western audience. 
• Ideals of balance, of chakras, energies, proverbs, ideals of yogis, monks, shamans etc 
• It has deep, researched meaning, applied in simple, child-friendly communication, which is what makes it so understandable and accessible to everyone (all-inclusive design)
• The basis of the show centres around the four elements, so this is what I wanted to explore for the 60 second video. Online there was not much simple terms so I found videos that went deeper into contexts of the four elements, what they represent and their teachings. 

The Four Elements:

The design then looked for videos that summarised the key concepts about the four elements in an accessible way, that was not opinionated or marginalising for people who aren't interested in learning about these ideas. It needed to be just the facts. This seemed difficult in the context of 60 seconds as the information was really substantial and weighted.

The research then looked at what the importance of maintaining balance meant in a western context, and found it was heavily related to healthy eating, going to the gym, going to work etc - ideas that are already fed into our psyche. Thus, although noted, the design wanted to find a different approach to communicate.  

The design wanted to focus on concepts rather than balancing life and work. So although interesting to note, these ideas did not inform the design development. However they do touch on mental health, and ideas of burning out, wellbeing and productivity advising a balanced life consists of broad concepts that we already know such as:

• Don’t shy away from taking some personal time off
• Always take your breaks
• Exercise is always a good option
• Going on holiday is a great idea
• Spend time with friends and family
• Don’t take work calls from home
• Get some real sleep
• Maintain a proper diet
• Continue to follow your own passions

However some still touch on similar ideas like learning new things, which is a key note to the designs rationale. Yet for the most, the articles found were pretty trivial.

E.g.
How do we maintain balance in our lives?
- Know yourself and how much rest, food and exercise you need to function at your best.
- Keep your mind alert and in shape. Try to learn a new piece of information each day, even if it's in conversation with your spouse and children at the dinner table.
- Stay connected with family and friends.
- Do something spontaneous. Our lives can be too regimented at times so it's a good idea to do something out of the ordinary every now and then.
- Make time for yourself.

'Maintaining a balanced life is becoming increasingly more important for your personal health and well-being in a fast-paced, modern world. Sustaining a balanced diet, alongside personal fitness, can help improve and stabilise overall health and wellbeing.'

This article starts off relevant then again moves on to dieting:

What does a healthy and balanced lifestyle mean to you?
We live in a world full of different beliefs and opinions, so one person’s answer to one question could be completely different to the next person. The internet, particularly social media, advertises all sorts of information on exercise and nutrition. We see at least one ‘brand new’ diet advertised on a daily basis. Whether it’s low carb, high fat, low- Glycaemic Load (GL), macrobiotic, carb cycling, gluten/grain free, Slimming World or Herbalife, our brains are constantly bombarded with conflicting information.