Rediscovering my creativity with LEGO

LEGO fans sometimes refer to their ‘dark ages’, the time period between when they stopped playing with LEGO as a kid and when they started again as an adult. I didn’t have LEGO as a kid, so I can’t claim to have had ‘dark ages’, but it sure is helping me reclaim my creativity now.

My work environment has been stifling of late. The government is strangling our universities and my positions have been subject to multiple overlapping change processes and other ‘optimisations’. Over 250 full time staff have left my organisation, along with countless casual staff whose hours simply disappeared. This is draining everyone of energy and creativity.

I’ve always considered myself a creative person, though I’ve struggled to demonstrate the skills to back it up. I cannot paint, nor sing. I used to act. I do not dance. I cannot code. I write fiction but I’ve never finished any of it.

Then, a few years ago, my wife and I started buying LEGO kits. We bought Ideas sets, creator kits, and random pieces from people we knew who were selling. We built up quite a collection: the Simpsons’ house and the Quik-E-Mart; Steamboat Willie; the International Space Station and the Apollo Lander; FRIENDS; Sesame Street; a 50s diner; a Super Nintendo with TV.

More recently, I’ve started designing my own builds in earnest.

I built some Pokemon-inspired designs.