Dear Cross-Maker

Congratulations on completing your training!

Thank you for your company, and I hope that you can take something away from this program.

Cross-making is a way to go outside your area of focus and comfort zone––to take calculated risks but still have a stable foundation or home to ground you or to come back to. By learning how things work outside our areas of focus, we discover alternative paths that can fork and merge as we go, while we train different muscles that we won’t get to use if we stay fixed within our specialized path. It’s a way to gain insight about our sport of focus, and to learn how it can influence your tendencies and behaviors when you take on other activities.

To wrap up, I’ll share with you what I took away from the program:

Exercise	Training Objective	Training Outcome
(Dis)Assembling	Build/take apart/fix/break your own tools.	Discovering the key learning moments are when things break that lead to new discoveries.
Drawing	Observe how you interact with an unfamiliar tool.	Discovering a new behavior that emerges through using a new tool.
Folding	Modify an existing tool that’s not working for you to fit your needs.	Discovering a way to create tools that support specific thinking and making processes.
Sculpting	Find your own entry point in an activity with a high learning threshold.	Discovering alternative ways to repurpose tools in an unconventional but accessible and relatable way.
Pushing	Find an activity that cultivates a self-motivating, stimulating, and enjoyable way to learn.	Discovering that struggle and play complement each other and facilitate growth.
Clicking/Typing	Recreate an environment that boosts your optimal performance.	Discovering a way to support a preferred learning style even in environments that aren’t designed for it.

Other takeaways I discovered in the process:

• Plateaus are meant to be there to facilitate growth and breakthroughs––otherwise, what is actually there to break through?

• Observing our patterns and behaviors from being frustrated with a tool is a way to recognize your own way of learning and doing things.

• It’s not always just about the tool itself and what can be made with it, but also how we use it.

• Despite the expeditions and escapes away from home, it ultimately comes back to graphic design. I’ll even admit that there’s always a bittersweet feeling of home whenever I press ⇧ ⌘ ⌥ S in an Adobe software.

Celebrate your discoveries, keep making, and don’t forget to take your rest days!

Your Cross-Maker Buddy