Why I built a spaceship in my back garden
If someone had said there would be a worldwide lockdown 3 months ago they’d be branded a crank. But I guess the cranks get it right sometimes too and so everything came to a halt. It’s tough. For everyone - some more than others but it is tough for everyone.
Firstly, I’m lucky; even with all the uncertainty I have managed to continue working remotely thanks to some brilliant colleagues that believe in my ability to deliver results in these tough times. That said, working inside a video conferencing bubble (The VCB) is way more exhausting that I thought it would be. The problem is there was no MOVEMENT for me. Even moving between meeting rooms in an office gives you a micro-break and gets your body moving again. But in the VCB there is zero movement.
I’m just sitting there, in my Zoomiform (shirt and jacket on top - tracksuit and socks on the bottom), flicking between screens, nodding attentively and focused through this narrow digital channel. And it doesn’t suit me. You see, I've never been good at sitting still so I had to move. Initially it was just going for a run each morning. That went really well but it wasn’t enough stimulus. Something was missing. I couldn’t even bring myself to records podcasts because it would mean more time in the VCB!!! (sorry about that, I’ll record some more next month)
Without even realising it, I started to log off the VCB each evening and I made good on a promise I made to my kids nearly 2 years ago - we would build a spaceship. Gathering all kinds of old pallets, tree stumps, floorboards, fake grass, computers, radios, hoses, broken water systems, barrels and boxes, we got to work. Slowly our spaceship began to take shape.
As the weeks of lockdown went by, I got more and more into it. More and more involved - should the engines (fake engines) be on the side or on the roof? I began to look forward each day to drilling and measuring and hammering. I spent hours with my kids, letting them drill this or measure that. They enjoyed it but got distracted and drifted in and out of the project as their mood took them. Fair enough, they are kids!
I made stupid errors time and again and patched them up. I reconfirmed my inability to wire anything correctly and broke the lights! But I fixed them too. On and on into the darkness of late evening I worked and four weeks later The Hawk was born. The kids were happy, I was happy and we created great memories together.
Then something else happened. I no longer had this project to occupy my mind and I began to refocus on the news, get irritable with the kids and impatient at work. Luckily I noticed the change in mood (and was told by my family - feedback is a gift). On reflection there was only one thing missing - the spaceship! Or rather, BUILDING the spaceship.
And there is the lesson I have learned in this lockdown - if you feel like you are going out of your mind, GET OUT OF YOUR MIND!
…….and into your body. It’s not enough just to move it either. You need to create, build and solve problems physically. In this way your brain and body start to reconnect and align. Without even knowing what was actually doing, that’s why I built a spaceship in my back garden.
For sure, we find ourselves in strange times and some people are going through hell with sick loved-ones and work worries. I count myself abundantly lucky to be able to create things, put my body to work and be with my family. I strive to appreciate these things always.
Normality will resume at some stage but I hope the lockdown lessons stay with me. Enjoy the wee video of the build process for the spaceship nerds among you all!
Stay safe everyone,
Steve