Victory Is in the Setup

The battle is won before the first board is cut or the first line is drawn.

I walk the site before I begin. No tools. No hurry. Just open eyes.

I feel the space. I let it speak. I build it first in my mind. Not just the form, but the flow. Where things will go. What will resist. What will help.

I gather what is needed. The tools. The time. The intention.

Only then do I begin. This is the way of the builder.

It is also the way of the designer. Good design does not rush to sketch.

It raises the questions. It walks the space. It listens to the light.

It prepares a place for the idea to arrive.

We prepare to make. And in preparing well, the making becomes,

Smooth.

Simple.

Right.

There is no chaos in a good setup.

Only presence.

Field Note:

Hurry clouds the path. Before you act, be still.

Before you build, observe. Before you draw, breathe.

The wise do not begin until they are ready.

The setup is the first move.