The 3D Power of Lego 

My dream: Leaving a legacy

My dream is to one day have a park filled with tiny houses, used to record life stories and dreams, hence leaving legacies for generation to come, by generations which might not even have been born.

When I started building my Lego tiny house, I didn’t realize I was actually manifesting my dream in Lego form. All I noticed was seeing kits with video cameras, stereos, photo cameras and laptops and my imagination was running wild. Especially when I saw the diners I was sold. I wanted to incorporate all these things in my tiny house.

Now here is the thing. I didn’t grow up around Lego, even though my dad had a toy store, but I have always been very creative. Being able to build 3D items is the summum. It goes way beyond drawing things on paper. One can touch it and look at it from all sides and angles. The cool things about Lego is you can create things within each 3D object and when I I saw the possibilities with the cameras and the booths, I realized this was precisely what I wanted to build, just on a bigger scale, the adult version, so to speak.

In addition I also have this wish to make it all green, as in sustainable and Lego seems to have thought about this too. I have created my own solar panels and on the top level will be green houses and green patches with the intent of leaving behind the least amount of foot prints. The ultimate goal is to make this happen in the “real” world, but for now this gives me a good impression of what it’s going to look like.

Why I started building it I still don’t know. It was something that just happened. Somehow I got drawn into the world of Lego, when the children of a dear friend were building with Lego. At first their mom and I sorted the parts out in an attempt to clean up and right around that same time Lego introduced the flowers. My mum was called Roos (after a rose) and my dad loved sunflowers, so Lego reeled me in the moment they started to sell these flowers. It was a nice way to remember my parents. Flowers need vases however and Lego didn’t sell these at the time and so I needed to build vases myself. Checking the pick and brick walls at the Lego stores for the right blocks to build my vase, I noticed the bricks which, I believe, became the basis for my tiny house.

The 3D dream behind the tiny houses

 Let’s get back to the dream I started telling you about. The park is going to be a safe place. It’ll be a safe haven for:

•  The young ones who otherwise won’t fit in moving forward in adult working life;
•  The younger ones who never get to grow up, but do want to leave a message to the world and create and record memories to share with their loved ones for a later date. Most importantly it’ll be to heal the family as much as possible in their final days and the days to come without them in it;
•  Those who are grown up but do not know how to communicate with clarity, often ending up as a victim of mental and sometimes also physical abuse and exploitation.

 I just listed three totally different age groups with each their own challenges. They do have one thing in common though. They need support in learning how to speak up, speak out and share their story. In my park they’ll get to do so through audio, video, taking pictures and simply taking notes and writing down their stories. It’s about capturing those precious moments, momentum, their thoughts, what’s going on in their mind, which can make this world a better place, not just for them, but also for others.

A lot is being said about the power of story nowadays. It’s the one thing people tell you to share, especially when becoming an entrepreneur and sharing things online. Telling a story sounds so simple, but which one are you going to share and how hard might that be, if you really share the one that matters most to you? And what if you have more than one story to share? Apart from which story, just speaking up and sharing what is actually on your mind is so hard for many of us out there.

The importance of expressing your thoughts

Expressing what you need and why feels like the scariest thing to do, making you feel all vulnerable, until you have done so more often. So when I talk about expressing your thoughts, I mean really expressing them and not holding back. I have heard it all:

•  People should understand this, I would;
•  Of course I don’t need to say more, I already said it once and I mean let’s consider what’s normal;
•  I already expressed what I wanted, I’m not going to do it again;
•  They should just get it;
•  No I already have said it once (or twice) and if they don’t know it by now, they never will.

My response comes back to one thing. It’s called CLARITY. What might be normal for you, usually isn’t normal for others. It all is linked to culture, surroundings and experiences. Then there’s the difference between men and women. One can say that most men are more straight forward, less emotional, so it takes a little extra to get them to that place where you are. And then there’s this thing called FEAR. It’s about the fear of being too much, wanting too much, being to vulnerable, being “punished” for speaking up about what you really feel, by being laughed at and/or simply ignored.

I can tell you from experience that once you get to do it regularly, it’ll be EASIER. You will feel less vulnerable. In addition you’ll get to realize that people actually appreciate the honesty. More importantly, you’ll see that people will understand what drives you and what you need a lot better. It gives you a fair chance of being heard, seen, understood and valued.

Following is the one thing you want to take away from (not) expressing yourself. Let’s think for a moment what you are telling yourself when you are holding back. Who is worth more? The one you favor by keeping silent? Is the other person really more important than you are? This is about showing yourself how important you consider yourself and yes, your mind knows what decisions you make over and over again. Everything inside you is aware if you don’t put yourself first, including your inner kid. Remember that if you take care of yourself, you can next take care of others (if that’s what you want). Just think about the exercise of the oxygen mask on the plane. It’s simple, if you don’t put it on first, you might be too late for the both of you. In addition, when you keep on giving, there’s nothing left to give. A great example of this is the book “the giving tree”, which I will post about it in a different blog post.

How do we express ourselves?

Now that we are aware of the importance of expressing ourselves, the question becomes, how we get to do this. How do we start a conversation that leads to expressing ourselves? Sometimes we just start talking and just say what’s on our mind. Most of the times we need a reason to start talking. My tiny house and matching car (to pull it forward) give people a good excuse to start talking. People start asking me questions and share their own ideas. That’s gold. If that means that some out there might be rude, not understanding the purpose behind the tiny house and my dream, so be it.

What if people react negatively?

To continue the example of people not understanding why I am building my own project from lego, there are those who just think about it as a toy. They either see it as a toy and/or they don’t see what’ so special about. I have had both reactions and what makes the difference is me being able to explain it. Usually showing the project is enough. Oh, this is more than just a car which can move around. It’s big. It contains little details, including several computer screens, a stereo and an engine. It’s made to pull a tiny house. So no, I don’t use Lego to “just” play with it. I study it and I build using my creativity.

The power of Lego is not so much the playing with the little figurines, which I don’t do. It’s about being playful by creating things, putting things together so it works like a charm, realizing things which have come into existence in my mind. It gives me something to talk about, share with others and most importantly, to unwind after hard conversations with people who are trying to put my clients down and getting my clients back in touch with their strengths and inner selves again. There, I’ve said it.

Yes, I am aware that others might have stopped listening, by the time I got to the end. You can ask them about why they are not interested, there might be a reason and it gives them the chance to pay attention once more. Of course you can give up, but what is it worth to you to be heard and especially understood? Isn’t that worth more than one try?

Making a new attempt might work better at another time in a different setting. What usually helps is showing pictures, videos, or in this case, the project itself. If people still don’t understand what makes it that special, after you pulling out all the stops that might be a reason to stop. At least you have tried and that way you have shown yourself that YOU MATTER!

The importance of the inner kid

 Building my Lego projects, showing it to others and sharing my stories about it, is about getting others inspired. The goal is to have others think about their own lives, goals and dreams we once had as a child and nowadays as grown ups. The best way to remember our goals and dreams is by getting back in touch with our inner child. We all have that inner child, that needs attention and it wants and needs to be nurtured. It represents the part of us that needs to laugh, smile and relax. It’s the part that needs to know it’s loved and accepted and that you are okay the way you are. For me Lego makes it possible to have my inner kid run around with joy.

 The inner kid is something I talk about frequently during my group coaching sessions, which are meant to provide you with clarity about what you want and especially putting yourself first. It’s also about experiencing joy and getting (back) on track. Speaking up and speaking out starts by trusting yourself enough to even consider doing so. Remembering who we once were, before we got introduced to the harsh reality of this world and we still had our desires and dreams, is key in all of this. It is about you getting back to the person you once were, before you started having doubts about whether you were good enough or not. Getting back in touch with that inner kid, lets you reconnect with that part of you. It comes natural to us to protect the little ones and keep them from experiencing bad things and changing for the worse as a result of it. We want kids to trust their own judgement (based on what they know) and trust in the world and themselves. Let’s become the adult who dares to trust in ourselves, without questioning if what we are doing is the right thing all the time!

Life is good  

Let’s remember to enjoy the little things in life, apart from enjoying the big things in life. Right now, I’m doing so by building on my projects, combined with sharing this blog post and some videos. I love that I can get people to become a part of my dream by showing them the tiny house and matching pick up truck. The next step will be sharing about the coaching trip in Chicago this upcoming September, of course with matching Lego project.

Remember, It’s all about taking one step at a time and enjoying those steps. I enjoy mine by writing this blog post, enjoying the good food and nice surroundings. My conclusion? Life is good. Living the dream is even better.