The Direction of Intention

It had to fall just right. What are the odds? When it snapped from the trunk, it fell into a perfect three-point cradle? Three points of contact.

Three-points-of-contact is the rule for safe climbing. It’s a shorthand phrase, like “turn-around-don’t drown,” the mantra meant to pop into your noggin at the moment you think it’s a good idea to drive through a flooded section of road. Three points of contact make it harder to fall.

A few years ago I collected conceptual models defined by three elements. Look around and you’ll find them everywhere, from brain processing to filmmaking, it seems that the three-points-of-contact rule provides stable footing for complex models of meaning making. Father-son-and-holy ghost. Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva.

Every story has a beginning, middle and an end. Though, no one tells us that the end is a new beginning in search of an unknown middle en route to an end. I’m currently working on a story and realized that I often tell myself to “triangulate.” Two plot points are a line, the third gives the story shape, depth, and movement.

The best visual compositions work on a model of thirds. Drawing a face is best learned by a rule of three. Many Renaissance paintings are built on a compositional triangle. Perspective works with three points even when we call it two-point-perspective.

Take heart. If you are lost, your rescuers will certainly triangulate to find your location.

As you walk through the day today, notice the patterns of three that are swirling all around you. Red light, yellow light, green. Like a limb falling from the sky, you might discover yourself cradled.

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora and iHeart Radio

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE LIMB

like. share. support. comment. many thanks for reading what we write.

buy-me-a-coffee is an donation “tip jar” where you may support the artists whose work you value

Filed under: KS Friday, Pattern, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, composition, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, models, perspective, story, studio melange, the melange, three, three points, triad, triangle, triangulate, trinity |